MAGA supporters have become real-life Manchurian candidates

Trump didn’t need technology and science to brainwash his followers. He galvanized their privilege, which never fails.

By Carron J. Phillips

If he told them to jump off a bridge, they would.

When encouraged to storm the Capitol, they did.

This is what people are capable of when they’re willfully brainwashed.

“The Manchurian Candidate” is a fictional work that began as a novel in 1959 and was adapted into a star-studded film in 1962. It is perhaps best known today for its 2004 remake featuring a similarly star-studded cast. The story revolves around brainwashing for political control. Unlike the millions of MAGA supporters who have pledged their loyalty to President Donald Trump, the characters in the book and films were manipulated without choice, which makes what we’ve been witnessing so surreal. Because it sure seems as if Trump’s supporters have been brainwashed into rote support of a tragically flawed man.

The apparent brainwashing includes those in his administration and his legions of supporters.

When asked about Trump and sex trafficker and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt turned the blame to Democrats. “Why are the Democrats suddenly showing concern about this? It’s because they are desperately trying to create a hoax to tarnish the reputation of the President of the United States,” she said. But it’s not just Democrats showing concern. Another explosive report from The Wall Street Journal included the release of a letter Trump signed for one of the sex trafficker's birthdays. At the same press conference, Leavitt referred to the Epstein survivors who had gathered outside the U.S. Capitol as “political props.” It’s worth noting here, that though Leavitt blamed Democrats, the press conference was organized and attended by people of both parties.

Leavitt is among the 53% of white women who consistently betrayed their gender by voting for Trump in the last three presidential elections. People like Leavitt fail to recognize victims and survivors; instead, they view these individuals as individuals to look down on, thinking that the horrible situation that the survivors endured could never happen to “people like them.” It helps explain why Republicans on the House Rules Committee voted to block the Epstein Files Transparency Act in defense of their leader.

Classism is the greatest oppressor. Before discrimination based on race and gender, prejudice was rooted in perceived “worthiness.” Today, the phrase “they not like us” is associated with a hit song from a rapper. But, throughout history, and to the present day, that thought has been a way of life.

So, when Trump entered politics in search of a base, he knew the classism would be a unifier. Racism and sexism are just part of why we’re almost eight months into the worst presidency this country has ever endured. The main issue is that millions of Americans voted against their own self-interests, multiple times, because they were fine with screwing over the people supposedly beneath them.

Chaos is easy to sell when the buyers think their imagined enemies will suffer even more.

At this moment, hundreds of farmers in Arkansas are begging the federal government to save them with emergency funding, as they’re getting exactly what they voted for when it comes to Trump’s economic policies. “If there’s no emergency funding this year, there will be one out of three farmers who will file bankruptcy,” Chris King, a Woodruff County farmer, said. From the campaign trail to Project 2025 to the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Trump’s followers have readily signed up to follow the political Pied Piper. They were fine with temporary hardships (higher groceries, immigration enforcement, and federal takeovers) if it meant long-term discomfort for “others.” And it did. According to a new report, the unemployment rate for Black Americans (7.5%) is more than two times the rate for white workers.

Florida officials are gambling with the health of future generations thanks to the removal of vaccine mandates. And in Georgia, there’s a crisis brewing over the concerns of how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been handled under Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“That could be impacts on foodborne illness, detection of problems with restaurants, problems with giving vaccinations to kids … not knowing if your food is safe, if the water is safe,” said Daniel Jernigan, who spent three decades at the CDC, about the potential impacts of the Trump administration disrupting funding.

Apparently, complicity is fine, but accountability feels as if it’s been eradicated. Much like the brainwashed characters in the movie, people are following orders without questioning what the moves mean. Vote for Trump, they’re told, to get rid of immigrants. But they then don’t ask how food will get to their table. Support the tariffs, they’re told. But then they’re left holding the bag when other nations won’t buy their crops.

“I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he's America's Hitler,” Vice President JD Vance privately wrote about Trump in 2016 on Facebook. When the comment was made public a few years ago, Vance’s spokesperson didn’t object. They simply said it no longer represented Vance's views on the man who tapped him as his running mate.

In the discussion about whether life imitates art or art imitates life, it is clear that they reflect one another. “The Manchurian Candidate” has a tragic conclusion. Ultimately, the story illustrates how brainwashing doesn't lead to happy endings. Life and art can parody each other—serving as a warning of what happens when we go too far.

Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University.

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