{"id":3800,"date":"2026-03-08T19:09:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/?p=3800"},"modified":"2026-03-08T19:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:37:00","slug":"why-do-maga-faithful-support-trump-if-his-big-beautiful-bill-will-likely-hurt-many-of-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/why-do-maga-faithful-support-trump-if-his-big-beautiful-bill-will-likely-hurt-many-of-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do MAGA faithful support Trump if his \u2018big beautiful bill\u2019 will likely hurt many of them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alex Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University – Newark<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

President Donald Trump signed the wide-ranging One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a> into law on July 4, 2025. It focuses on cutting taxes, mainly for households that earn US$217,000 or more each year<\/a>, as well as increasing funding<\/a> for military and border security and revamping social programs. <\/p>\n

Republicans tout it as providing \u201can economic lifeline for working families<\/a>\u201d and \u201claying a key cornerstone of America\u2019s new golden age<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

Democrat lawmakers argue that, in reality, Trump\u2019s act \u201csteals from the poor to give to the ultra-rich<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

The act is estimated to increase the country\u2019s debt by more than US$3 trillion<\/a> over 10 years<\/a>, while knocking more than 10 million people off Medicaid<\/a>. <\/p>\n

About 41.4 million adults in the U.S.<\/a> receive Medicaid. And 49% of Medicaid recipients who voted in the 2024 election backed<\/a> Trump. <\/p>\n

While 94% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents said in a May 2025 survey that they are worried Medicaid cuts will lead to more adults and children losing their health insurance, 44% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents expressed concern about this, according to the KFF Health Tracking Poll<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Why, then, do Trump\u2019s Make America Great Again supporters \u2013 especially those who will be hit hard by cuts to food assistance programs and health care, including hospitals<\/a> \u2013 continue to support him even as he enacts policies that some think go against their interests<\/a>? Indeed, over 78% of Republicans or Republican-leaning voters say they support<\/a> the measure Trump signed. <\/p>\n

As an anthropologist who studies MAGA<\/a> and American political culture<\/a>, I understand that many of the MAGA faithful believe that Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime leader who is catapulting the U.S. into a new golden age. <\/p>\n

Sure, their reasoning goes, bumps in the road are expected. But they think that most of the criticism of Trump and this latest bill is ultimately fake news spread by radical leftists who have what some call Trump Derangement Syndrome<\/a>, meaning anti-Trump hysteria.<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n
\"An<\/div>\n

<\/a>

\n President Donald Trump holds up the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that he signed into law on July 4, 2025, at the White House.<\/span>
\n Alex Brandon \u2212 Pool\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trump alone can fix it<\/h2>\n

In the eyes of the MAGA faithful, Trump is no ordinary politician. To them, he is a savior<\/a> who can help ward off the threat of radical left socialism. They believe Trump\u2019s proclamation: \u201cI alone can fix it<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

Some see Trump\u2019s survival of an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024, as evidence he is divinely chosen<\/a> to lead the country. Trump himself claimed during his second inaugural address, \u201cI was saved by God to make America great again<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

As I have repeatedly observed firsthand at Trump rallies and MAGA gatherings and heard in my conversations with Trump supporters, many Trump supporters \u2013 even those whom Democrats contend will be hurt by the bill \u2013 see the bill as a key step to making America great again. Doing so will not be easy and may cause some pain. <\/p>\n

But as Trump himself has noted about policies such as tariffs, \u201csometimes you have to take medicine to fix something<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u2018Fake news!\u2019<\/h2>\n

Even if the bill may cause some short-term pain, MAGA stalwarts contend, the apocalyptic claims of critics of massive health cuts are hoaxes spread by the radical left media<\/a>. White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, for example, dubbed the Medicare cut claims \u201ca big fake news story<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This view, based on my research and observations, is unsurprising. Trump has been pushing the \u201cfake news conspiracy\u201d theory, which holds that the media is part of the deep state, since his first term<\/a>. He even dubbed the press \u201cthe enemy of the people<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s fake news rhetorical strategy has been successful<\/a> in helping him maintain support. Trump supporters take it for granted that negative news coverage of the president is most likely fake news. <\/p>\n

The Trump administration frequently invokes this conspiracy theory, including statements with headlines like \u201c100 Days of HOAXES: Cutting Through the Fake News<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House is taking the same approach with the new legislation. In June 2025, the Trump administration issued a statement stating \u201cMyth vs. Fact: The One Big Beautiful Bill<\/a>\u201d and \u201cMYTHBUSTER: The One Big Beautiful Bill Cuts Spending, Deficit \u2013 and That\u2019s a Fact<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

There is already evidence that this depiction is resonating<\/a> in places such as rural Nebraska, where many residents do not blame Trump for a health clinic that claims it is shutting down due to Medicaid cuts. \u201cAnyone who\u2019s saying that Medicaid cuts is why they\u2019re closing is a liar,\u201d said one woman of the clinic\u2019s closure<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n
\"A<\/div>\n

<\/a>

\n President Donald Trump holds a rally in July 2024 in Harrisburg, Pa.<\/span>
\n Spencer Platt\/Getty Images<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Crushing it\u2019 in the Golden Age<\/h2>\n

More broadly, the MAGA faithful contend, the bill\u2019s critics miss the bigger picture. For the most part, Trump has been \u201ccrushing it\u201d while putting \u201c\u2018W\u2019 after \u2018W\u2019 on the board<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

From their perspective, Trump has assembled an all-star Cabinet<\/a> team that is implementing key pillars of the MAGA agenda, such as restricting immigration, blocking unfair trade and avoiding drawn-out wars<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Trump supporters<\/a> underscore the president\u2019s accomplishments<\/a> on immigration. Attempted unauthorized border crossings of migrants have plummeted<\/a> in 2025, amid a rise in arrests of immigrants.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur message is clear,\u201d stated Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, \u201ccriminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gas prices are also down<\/a>. Trump has followed through on his pledge to supporters to purge what he calls the deep state, by downsizing or gutting entire government departments and agencies<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Trump has clamped down on woke universities<\/a> that brainwash<\/a> students, as MAGA supporters see it. <\/p>\n

He withheld funding from the University of Pennsylvania until it agreed to ban transgender women<\/a> from playing on women\u2019s sports teams. Trump also cut $400 million in funding<\/a> for Columbia University because the administration said it did not sufficiently protect Jewish students from harassment during Palestinian rights protests. <\/p>\n

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize<\/a> in July for his diplomatic work in the Middle East. <\/p>\n

Recounting Trump\u2019s foreign policy achievements, one conservative commentator gushed that Trump \u201cpromised we would win so much we\u2019d get tired of winning. Instead, the wins keep coming<\/a> \u2013 and America isn\u2019t tired at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trumpism = Trump<\/h2>\n

Yet, Trump faces challenges.<\/p>\n

A June 2025 KFF Health Tracking Poll found that support for the new legislation decreased<\/a> when people were informed about its negative health care impact, for example. <\/p>\n

Republicans could also face backlash in 2028 after the full impact of the act takes effect<\/a> and people lose health insurance and other public benefits. <\/p>\n

Regardless, I believe MAGA faithful will likely continue to support Trump. <\/p>\n

They may argue over parts of his bill<\/a>, the airstrikes on Iran<\/a> or the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But, in the end, they will circle the wagons around Trump for a simple reason. Trump created the MAGA movement<\/a>. He dominates the Republican Party<\/a>. And there is no Trumpism without Trump.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

This article written by Alex Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University – Newark<\/strong> and is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alex Hinton, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University – Newark President Donald Trump signed the wide-ranging One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4, 2025. It focuses on cutting taxes, mainly for households that earn US$217,000 or more each year, as well […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":3801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"inline_featured_image":false,"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}