There is Nothing Patriotic About MAGA

Reclaiming Patriotism from the Authoritarian Right

Welcome to Wethersfield

I visited my hometown of Wethersfield, Connecticut this weekend. It’s just south of Hartford, the sort of small town where everyone goes to the same public high school. The families go back generations and intertwine. Everybody seems to know everybody else, and most people never leave, for good reason. It’s quaint, down-to-earth, and the people there care for one another.

It’s also a town with some real history— the “most ancient town in Connecticut”— to be precise, founded in 1634. In the old part of town (“ODub” — Old Wethersfield, you get it), there are small museums dedicated to showcasing early colonial life. Growing up we would go to “camps” at these museums, which mostly entailed churning butter and playing that game where you roll a hoop with a stick. Sometimes we would get to dig in dirt for artifacts.

Our claim to fame is that George Washington briefly headquartered in Wethersfield in May of 1781. Here he met the French commander Rochambeau and planned the military campaign that culminated with victory in Yorktown months later, which ended the Revolutionary War. He slept in the Joseph Webb House, shown below. I believe they still have the sheets.

I’ve always thought of Wethersfield as a patriotic place. It played a meaningful role in the creation of our country. Main Street is often decked out in red, white and blue. The thirteen star colonial flag adorns many of the historical houses, which proudly wear the names of their colonial owners.

Like much of America, it has also become decidedly purple. Here is Wethersfield’s vote split from the last election:

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, Democrat, 8,807

Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance, Republican, 6,462

We had 81.65% turnout, which is well above the national average. This weekend, when I walked around town, it was striking how many flags there were and other expressions of patriotism, critical or otherwise.

It’s probably every other house that has the flag out front. From what I know of the families, it seems almost uncorrelated with partisanship. It is not the loud brash patriotism of MAGA, though there is the town “MAGA Guy” who drives around in an old-fashioned pickup truck with two large American flags streaming out the back, drag coefficients be damned. In Wethersfield, the patriotism you feel is the quiet kind, one grounded in a respect for history and the deeper traditions of democracy. I didn’t realize this when I was young, but I am grateful to have been raised in a place like this.

A False Patriotism

Wethersfield aside, I think it’s safe to say that the American political center and left has largely ceded patriotism to the right. When you drive on the highway and see an American flag bumper sticker, chances are that person is a Republican. And that is a problem.

There is hard data on this.

Ruy Teixeira

had a nice piece that points to data from ThirdWay, which shows a perceived patriotism deficit among Democrats. 56% of Americans believe “patriotic” describes the Republican Party very well, compared to only 46% for the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, Trump and his faction of the GOP, like many populist authoritarians, have figured out that the easiest way to garner popular support is to wrap yourself in the flag and foment nationalism. This is the same tactic used by Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban, Benjamin Netanyahu, and many others. The leader makes themselves synonymous with the nation and paints themselves as the only person capable of defending it. This is also why making war is often good politics. War activates feelings of threat and a fear of outsiders, in turn engendering support for “strongmen” type leaders.

This is a powerful strategy, and Trump has used it very effectively.

But there is nothing patriotic about Trump and his faction of the Republican Party. They wrap themselves in the American flag, and then proceed to do the most un-American things imaginable:

They fail to respect the results of elections.

They run roughshod over the Constitution.

They lie at will to the American people.

They threaten to deploy the military against citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.

They foment political violence.

They engage in unprecedented levels of corruption and steal from the American people.

I have no doubt that many of Trump’s supporters love America and many have made great sacrifices to serve it, which I deeply admire. But they have been led astray by a con man, who has exploited their love of country to render them blind to his abuses of power and the dangers he poses to our system itself.

Capture the Flag

I have never been one to wrap myself in red, white and blue. I have always found nationalism and patriotism to be dangerous political forces, the precursors to militarism and often authoritarianism. But these days I am feeling more patriotic than I ever have in my entire life, and I’ve come to realize the pro-democracy coalition needs to more deeply embrace patriotism in this moment.

There are two versions of patriotism. Trump’s is the loud, militant, “blind patriotism” of MAGA, used instrumentally and cynically to consolidate power by elites who care very little about democracy or working class Americans.

Ours must be the quiet, reflective critical patriotism of democratic citizenship. And we shouldn’t be bashful in expressing it. I

That’s all for today. Thanks as always for reading my work and supporting me, however you choose to do so. Happy 4th.

Rory

P.S. - Thanks to all those who signed up for The Civic Forum (www.thecivicforum.com). The first webinar will be Thursday, July 11^th at noon EST (see full schedule below). This one will be just me giving a short lecture on the general process of democratic erosion and the state of the U.S. right now. Here’s the link to register: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/civicforum-s1e2

Unfortunately the Crowdcast platform had a glitch last week, and it looks like roughly 100-150 people who wanted to sign up could not do so. I am pretty bummed about this and am investigating alternatives. In the meantime, if the registration link doesn’t work for some reason, the easiest thing to do is to send me a message on Substack or email me (rtruex@princeton.edu) with your name and email and I will make sure you get the right links and have a spot reserved.