Support for the MAGA Agenda: Race, Gender, and Authoritarianism

Abstract Donald Trump has run for president three times with a distinct slogan of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA), endorsing an agenda that advocates for a return to traditional values, renewed support for gender hierarchies, and the exclusion of outsiders. This agenda has received widespread support from Americans mostly along party lines, but partisanship reflects only the tip of the iceberg. Going beyond party, we focus on the existing cross-pressures and intersections between race and gender to demonstrate the importance of attitudes supporting right-wing authoritarianism in explaining how Americans perceive the MAGA agenda. In contrast to the notion that women—characterized as primarily Democrats and supporters of peaceful activism—are less supportive of the MAGA agenda, our analyses demonstrate that white women do not meet this expectation. Utilizing a race-gendered intersectional methodology and data from the 2023 University of Notre Dame Attitudes Toward Democracy Survey (NDATD), we illustrate the nuances of right-wing authoritarianism as a political ideology that works differently across race-gender intersections in driving support for the MAGA agenda. Variation within gender by race, and in complementary fashion within race by gender, reveals crucial insight into the varied reactions within the electorate. Doing so challenges monolithic narratives of women voters and voters of color and highlights the advantages of an intersectional approach to analyzing contemporary politics.