Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explained “what MAGA really means” in a social media post just two days after he suspended his independent presidential campaign and endorsed former President Donald Trump.
Kennedy explained that while there were many Democrats who claimed “MAGA” was a call for a return to an America that treated women and minorities as second-class citizens, he believed it was about returning the country to a place of optimism, vitality, and respect.
What “MAGA” really means
The phrase has troubled liberals who think it is a call for a return to an America before civil rights, gay rights, and women’s rights. But I have a more generous interpretation, one that is truer to my experience of Donald Trump as he is today. “Make…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 25, 2024
“What ‘MAGA’ really means,” Kennedy posted. “The phrase has troubled liberals who think it is a call for a return to an America before civil rights, gay rights, and women’s rights. But I have a more generous interpretation, one that is truer to my experience of Donald Trump as he is today.”
“‘Make America Great Again’ recalls a nation brimming with vitality, with a can-do spirit, with hope and a belief in itself. It was an America that was beginning to confront its darker shadows, could acknowledge the injustice in its past and present, yet at the same time could celebrate its successes,” he continued. “It was a nation of broad prosperity, the world’s most vibrant middle class, and an idealistic belief (though not consistently applied) in freedom, justice, and democracy.”
“It was a nation that led the world in innovation, productivity, and technology. And it was the healthiest country in the world,” he concluded. “I have talked to many Trump supporters. I have talked with his inner circle. I have talked to the man himself. This is the America they want to restore.”
Kennedy announced on Friday that he planned to remain on the ballot in states that were solidly either red or blue so that people could vote for him if they wanted to voice their displeasure in both Republicans and Democrats. In swing states, where he felt his presence on the ballot could ultimately help Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House, he said that he was withdrawing his name from the ballot and hoping that people would join him in supporting Trump over Harris.