‘LEAVING MAGA’: Former Trump supporters REVEAL what finally made them BREAK from MAGA

[0:00] There have been some signs of late that President Trump's MAGA base might be fracturing. [0:05] MSNOW correspondent David Noriega talked recently with a group of former Trump supporters [0:10] who are now separating from the president about what pushed them out of the MAGA movement. [0:18] When you were a part of the MAGA movement, how deep were you? [0:22] I was as deep as anyone could have been. I was an aspiring MAGA pundit. [0:27] I had bylines in places like Fox and The Federalist. I spoke at Trump groups. [0:33] I was a donor on the campaign. I was unapologetically a MAGA and Trump supporter. [0:38] Rich Logos is the founder and CEO of Leaving MAGA, a non-profit for those disillusioned by the movement. [0:45] The group, which Logos says is funded entirely by small donors, [0:49] provides support groups, deradicalization resources, and a platform for members to share their experiences. [0:54] To get a better understanding of what makes people leave MAGA, [0:58] we heard from an array of the group's members. [1:00] I grew up really poor, so a lot of my friends' parents would be responsible for helping me get to prom [1:06] or making sure I had, you know, new shoes for school, and they were all MAGA. [1:10] And it was very much this constant conversation of, if you want to have nice things, be a Republican. [1:16] I really wanted acceptance with my father, and my father was very much into Fox News, [1:23] so that was something that we would connect on. [1:25] I became heavily indoctrinated into trad wife culture. [1:28] We were all absolutely fine with household voting. [1:31] And that led... [1:31] So just to clarify, for people who don't know, household voting means a woman does not vote. [1:36] So the SAVE Act, in essence, is to take that right away from women. [1:41] In 2015 and 16, I felt that the two parties were the same. [1:46] And even though Trump ran as a Republican, I was very enticed by his outsider status. [1:54] When you heard Trump claim that the election had been stolen, were any of you like, [2:00] yeah, they stole this election, Trump won? [2:02] Yeah. [2:03] Yeah? [2:03] I did believe that the election was stolen. [2:06] I believe that the riots were actually... [2:09] Those were patriots. [2:10] Until I actually switched off Fox News and started getting my news from other places, [2:15] my information, that's when it finally hit. [2:19] Diversifying their news turned out to be a common factor in leaving MAGA. [2:23] I met my now husband in 2021, and they made me watch a documentary on January 6th. [2:29] And I didn't even know what happened on January 6th prior to the PBS documentary. [2:33] And I looked at him and I said, Scott, did that really happen? [2:37] And he was like, where have you been? [2:40] It's not easy to believe something firmly and then come to the conclusion that you've [2:45] been wrong for many years. [2:47] Was that hard for you? [2:49] Yes. [2:50] Yeah. [2:50] That was something that I just couldn't square, because I couldn't be wrong, [2:55] because I consider myself intelligent. [2:57] You know, I had believed that when Trump ran, that he would be somebody who would [3:02] be different as an outsider. [3:04] I think that he was correct in pointing out a lot of the flaws of our political system. [3:10] It just turned out, unfortunately, that he didn't try to solve those or remedy those [3:15] ills, that he exacerbated them. [3:18] Hearing you guys talk about MAGA and about supporting Trump, it sounds like you're talking [3:23] often about, like, a cult that's damaged. [3:26] Yes. [3:27] Right? [3:27] Yeah. [3:28] But he's the president of the United States, and it's not a cult. [3:32] It's like the dominant political ideology of the United States in this moment. [3:38] What MAGA does provide is a place where people feel seen and heard and validated. [3:44] We used to say, we're not in the cult, the outside world is the cult, and we're not the [3:49] crazies, the outside world are the crazies. [3:51] Trump says that leaving MAGA often means losing relationships with loved ones, but it also [3:58] teaches them to approach those loved ones with empathy. [4:01] When I left MAGA, like I said, I kicked the door open and jumped through. [4:04] I had a heart full of hate. [4:07] So I would just go on the offensive and attack anybody and everybody that still supported [4:11] it. [4:11] And I've learned over time that that's not going to change anybody. [4:15] In fact, it's going to push people over. [4:17] So I've learned to be that empathy, that voice of concern, that caring voice. [4:23] You can do this. [4:24] I did it. [4:28] MSNOW correspondent David Noriega with that report, and at least a fascinating one. [4:32] You know, President Trump has undeniably broken a lot of signature campaign promises [4:37] about trying to manage the economy to no foreign wars. [4:41] And that's just the start of a lengthy list as to why so many of his supporters are finally [4:47] abandoning him. [4:48] I would say, though, I would hesitate to call this a widespread trend at all, because you [4:53] look at the polling and his hardcore MAGA base is overall not leaving him. [4:59] But this is an interesting sliver and subset of showing just the earthquakes that have happened. [5:05] And really, I attribute it primarily to the war in Iran and that big promise that was broken [5:12] that has led through a global economic ripple effect of chaos. [5:16] The Epstein files, too. [5:17] And you're right. [5:18] Most of his base still staying with him. [5:20] But if he's losing some of his base, that shows that so much of those independents, those swing [5:24] voters, they've definitely left. [5:26] And that's why Republicans are so nervous about this November.