“He was the one the PEOPLE voted in”: Analyzing MAGA enthusiasts as fans

This article examines the phenomenon of fandom within political communities. As both politician and celebrity, Donald Trump sits at the intersection of these two spheres. The way some of Trump’s supporters follow and discuss him on social media bears remarkable similarities with fan behavior, and thus fan studies offers a helpful lens through which to discuss this phenomenon. This article contributes to both political communication and fan studies by analyzing a pro-Trump Facebook Group through the lens of Jenkins’ five levels of fan activity. The members of the Facebook Group interpret political news items within a large, scary, and mostly fictional meta-narrative full of narrative bias, sexism, racism, and religion. The implications this alternative reality built around of a real-world political fan object are discussed in relation to American democracy.