MAGA “reality” is not fact-based. It is not evidence-based. That “reality” is based on lies and falsehoods spread by Trump and his minions through conservative media, almost all of which is now far-right, and by Trumpist Republicans who now constitute the base, if not the entirety, of the Party. This “reality” is encapsulated in Rudy Giuliani’s comment to Rusty Bowers, former speaker of the Arizona House: “We’ve got lots of theories. We just don’t have the evidence.”
All of this actually makes the MAGA world unreal, because it is not based on anything that can be independently verified as existing or true. But we play along, because we have been sucked into MAGA’s gravitationally bound system that they swear to and live by, a system where fiction as reality has had and continues to have real effects.
The sun in their solar system, around which orbit all planets (major Republican politicians, rich donors, corporate lawyers, and lobbyists) and asteroids and satellites (Trump’s family, acolytes, and fawning sycophants) is, of course, Trump himself. The energy given off by this sun is his lies.
The powerful solar flare amidst this energy is the lie that Trump won the 2020 election, stolen from him through voter fraud by Democrats. On the basis of this lie, repeatedly discredited for lack of any evidence, let alone sufficient evidence, in the courts and during legislative (state and local) testimonies, Trump and his administrative misfits have taken the following actions:
• pardoned and released all of the January 6th rioters, including those convicted of assault and other acts of violence and damage, who attacked the Capitol to “stop the steal,” which never happened;
• used new AG Pam Bondi to order DOJ investigations into members of the DOJ, the FBI, Congress, and state prosecutors’ offices who sought to hold Trump accountable for his lies and incitement of violence;
• fired dozens of federal prosecutors and FBI agents who worked on criminal cases against Trump, all related to his lies about the 2020 election and about White House classified documents that he stole and lied about;
•disbanded FBI groups designed to thwart foreign election interference in the US, especially the interference by Russia on Trump’s behalf in 2016-2024;
• ordered investigations into the members of the January 6th Congressional Committee.
When asked, some of Trump’s Cabinet nominees, now confirmed appointments, either refused to say whether Trump lost the 2020 election (e.g., Bondi, Patel, Hegseth) or claimed that the election was rigged (Vought).
Accompanying this burst of energy from the solar-flare lie is the constant flow of heat from ongoing Trump lies; for example, the promises to lower inflation (now going up); to lower the price of eggs (now up over 15% since January); to end the war in Ukraine in 24-hours (still going on with the US now having withdrawn aid and security and now siding with Russia); and to end the conflict between Israel and Palestine (still under an intact cease-fire negotiated by the Biden Administration) by having the United States claim ownership of Gaza, remove all 1.8 million Palestinians living there, and transform the land into a Middle-Eastern Riviera.
Of course, many Americans who voted for Trump may see the sunlight in his many maneuvers, but they won’t feel its warmth. They will not receive much, if any, benefit from the Republican, and Trump supported budget proposal, recently passed in the House, calling for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations, a proposal that will increase the debt ceiling by $4 trillion. Instead, most Americans will endure the claim—again without any evidence in this solar system—that there is massive “waste, fraud, and abuse” within Social Security and Medicare, so much so that $2 trillion can be cut from mandatory spending. Republicans want to see cuts to food aid for more than 40 million low-income Americans and a $150 billion cut to supplemental nutrition programs. Under such circumstances, even if you suddenly liked the price of eggs, you might well not have the money to buy them.
Meanwhile, in MAGA “reality” those who voted for Trump will side with him when he blames DEI, Democrats, minorities, and undocumented immigrants for hardships and for his and his minions’ blunders. They will expose themselves to this sunlight, bask in Trump’s lies, but, unprotected by facts or reasons, may do permanent damage to their health and well-being.
How can they repeatedly fall for the falsehoods? The sun is bright, and the Trump voters love its heat. This is nothing new for voters who like the sun’s warmth on their faces. It distracts them from their civic ignorance and laziness; their search for easy answers and enemies to blame; their disdain of intellect; and the irresistible drift for many into mob mentality, revenge, and cruelty. And dare I say it? There may even be a strand of masochism thrown into the formula in the form of nihilism and self-harm as they seek to “burn it all down.”
Trump is not only the sun; he is also the astronomical creator of this solar system. But this creator is not divine, by any understanding of that term. Trump will die; the sun will burn out. When it does, it will take with it many, but not all, of the planets, asteroids, and satellites. Meanwhile, while sun-king Trump lives on, a tiny “primordial” black hole called “Elon Musk” lurks on the side. As with all such black holes, as we might predict, this one is visiting the MAGA solar system but is unlikely to stay permanently.
Trump may already be in the sun’s burn-out phase, as real-world results and effects cannot be covered over with lies. If so, then this sun-king is turning not into a bloated red giant, as happens in dying solar systems, but is turning instead into a bloated orange one, as fake as the lies he tells. His principal attendees, eagerly awaiting the sun-king’s demise, will reorient their orbits and battle over who is to take the sun’s place. But the power of the sun-king cannot be duplicated easily. Those planets, satellites, and asteroids will soon find themselves orbiting around a successor who in comparison to Trump will be nothing but a tiny white dwarf star.
Without Trump, the MAGA solar system will last a while, at least in the heated competition to take the sun-king’s place. But the dwarf stars lack sun-king Trump’s solar flares. Nevertheless, more lies will follow. There have always been liars in politics, and Trump has shown that there can be a massive pay-off for lying. Perpetrators always receive something they crave. It might be attention. It might be money. It might be feeling valued or validated, heard or seen, a source of information and perhaps inspiration. Even dwarf stars can create firestorms.
Most who believe and perpetuate lies simply find it easy and comforting to be among those who believe the same thing. They don’t have to try hard and don’t have to learn much. Emotional baggage seems to weigh less when you’re in a group sharing the burden.
In that scenario, can the “reality” of lies last? The sad answer is “yes.” In place of truth, those living in this system rely on name-calling rather than arguments, bullying rather than facts, and the social-media mob rather than evidence. When you are desperate to create an identity of significance for yourself, nothing tops fiction.
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