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MAGA communism[Note 1] is an Americanpolitical slogan,movement, andideology that seeks to synthesizeMarxist economic policies with thepopulist energy ofDonald Trump'sMAGAmovement.[1][2] Advocates of MAGA communism call on Marxist activists to align with supporters of Donald Trump in order to oppose "globalist elite[s]".[3] MAGA communists criticizeliberalidentity politics, denounceAmerican imperialism, and dismissclimate change efforts as "virtue-signaling" and "green fascism",[4] while asserting that the ideas ofMartin Heidegger andAleksandr Dugin are essential for constructing a post-liberalsocialist order.[5]
The ideology, an attempt to develop an American form ofsocialist patriotism, has been described as "alt-left", "alt-right", and "neo-fascist". According to theBlack Agenda Report, MAGA communism is grounded in a number ofreactionary andright-wing positions,[6] whileThe Guardian views it as a "fringe movement" that attempts to rebrand communism to appeal to disaffectedconservatives.[7]
In late 2022, political commentator and social media influencerJackson Hinkle began advocating for the idea of "MAGA communism", leading it to trend onTwitter.Vice described it as a "swirl ofsocial conservatism,patriotism and subversive energy", and described Hinkle as coming from "thefar-right entertainment playbook by agitating on livestreams".[4] Hinkle and other supporters of MAGA communism argued that those who care about theAmerican working class should ally with theMAGAmovement, which they considered to be the largestanti-establishment movement in the United States, to incite apopulist revolution. On July 21, 2024, Hinkle and fellow political commentatorHaz Al-Din announced the launch of the American Communist Party (ACP).[8][9]The FP described the ACP as a MAGA communist party,[9] while Hinkle described the party as supporting "Anti-Imperialism,Multipolarity, andOrthodox Communism".[10] In November 2024, the ACP won its first partisan election when the party's international secretary Chris Helali, described byLa Repubblica as a MAGA communist, was electedhigh bailiff ofOrange County, Vermont.[11]
Left-wing commentators have variously described MAGA communism as areactionaryalt-right ideology and a form of "tankiecommunism".[4]MEMRI grouped MAGA communism as part of the widerNational Bolshevik movement.[12] MAGA communism is said to lack ideological consistency and focus its appeal mainly to people disillusioned withmodern American liberalism rather than the American working class.[4] These characterizations of the ideology are opposed by Al-Din, who describes MAGA communism as purely a populist strategy and argues that the MAGA communists areMarxist–Leninists.[1][13] Al-Din additionally rejected claims that MAGA communism is inherently reactionary, stating that critics misunderstand the distinction between its strategic approach and ideological commitments. He has said that many mainstream depictions of the movement are "superficial" and fail to grasp its deeper working class objectives.[14]
Daniel HoSang, a professor atYale University and an expert on modern Americanright-wing movements, toldMotherboard that "[MAGA communism] doesn't necessarily mean communism in the literal sense of, say, demandingcollective ownership. I think it's meant to be a kind of cultural invocation—a defense from that which the elites want you to believe. It suggests something about how people's political moorings are unsettled, and the search to find new bearings".[4] Brian Hughes, the associate director of the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) atAmerican University, said: "Various figures are trying to take advantage of the moment. Skull-mask [neo-fascist][15] networks, andaccelerationist networks more broadly, have been juicing MAGA Communism because they like to inhabit odd, esoteric subcultures. They're smaller, and easier to exploit. It helps that MAGA Communism has little ideological consistency, and can vibe with people who want to be edgy, on the political fringe".[4] MAGA communism has also been placed within the context of anAmerican conservatism that, in the words ofDemocratic Party strategistDavid Shor, was getting "really very weird", withThe New Republic describing it as a movement that "combinedAmerican nationalism with praise for another authoritarian leader despised by most Americans, China'sXi Jinping".[16][7]
Compact Magazine argued that the movement was a response to broad dissatisfaction amongst the American working class with the traditional left's abandonment ofeconomic issues in favor ofcultural politics.[17][7] Kathleen Hayes, a researcher ofMarxist andantisemitic movements, rejected attempts to label the MAGA communists as right-wing or far-right but instead described them as "[genuine] creatures of the left".[18] Hayes told theJewish Journal that MAGA communism appeals to a modern American left that is sympathetic to "Middle Easternjihadism" and warned that the movement could forge ared–green alliance withIslamists.[18] MEMRI stated that Hinkle and other MAGA communism advocates promote Islamism and are "emblematic of the broaderWhite Jihad movement".[12]
While MAGA communism is seen as supportingDonald Trump andTrumpism, Celia Fernández ofEl País wrote "they don’t fully agree with Trump’s political vision. But addressing the working class through him, they explain, is the only way to channel working-class militancy away fromcapitalism and towards a communist future".[19] In March 2025,MSNBC highlighted the Trump-appointedDirector of National IntelligenceTulsi Gabbard’s ties to MAGA communists.[20]
Haz Al-Din, one of the leading theorists of MAGA Communism, discusses the ideology, its relation to Trumpism, and the future of American communism.
