Dark MAGA: The March of the IT Technocrats, By Charles Taylor (Florida)

Dark MAGA isn't a formal organisation with a membership card, it's more of a vibe shift within the broader "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) crowd. It popped up around 2022, with folks like former Rep. Madison Cawthorn tossing the term around, and got a big boost when Elon Musk started waving the flag at Trump rallies in 2024, calling himself "Dark MAGA." Think black MAGA hats, dystopian memes with Trump as a Terminator-like figure, and a rhetoric dialled up to eleven on vengeance and power.

At its core, Dark MAGA takes the MAGA nostalgia for a "great" America and spikes it with a darker, more authoritarian twist. It's less about restoring a rosy past and more about smashing enemies, political elites, "woke" culture, anyone seen as soft or disloyal. The aesthetic borrows from online subcultures like vaporwave and fashwave, with neon-drenched, militaristic imagery. Articles like one from Newsweek in 2022 peg it as a post-alt-right evolution, aiming to mainstream edgier, radical ideas under Trump's banner. Musk's embrace, especially at a Butler, PA rally post-assassination attempt on Trump in July 2024, cemented it as a thing, with sales of "Dark MAGA" gear spiking.

Traditional MAGA, born from Trump's 2016 campaign, is about "America First," tight borders, economic protectionism, and a return to what supporters see as classic American values (e.g. 1950s picket fences, minus the civil rights struggles). It's populist, sceptical of globalism and media, and often tied to evangelical sentiment, liberty through limited government, gun rights, and free speech. Surveys, like one from the University of Washington in 2021, show its base as mostly White, older, Christian, and politically active, with 60 percent solid Republicans. It's loud, brash, but still nods to constitutional ideals like checks and balances, even if inconsistently applied.

Dark MAGA veers hard from this. Traditional MAGA wants to rewind the clock; Dark MAGA wants to break it and build something new. Here's the essence:

1.Tone and Tactics: Traditional MAGA rallies around optimism—"Make America Great Again" is a promise of renewal. Dark MAGA's all about retribution, Trump as a "Revenge President," per a 2022 GNET analysis; "no mercy" for foes, with memes of Trump with laser eyes or skulls. It's less "let's vote 'em out" and more "let's crush 'em."

2.Governance Vision: Traditional MAGA leans on a constitutional republic—smaller government, individual rights, even if it's selective about who gets 'em. Dark MAGA flirts with something else. It has been tied to the "Dark Enlightenment," a tech-oligarch philosophy from thinkers like Nick Land, favouring centralised control over democracy. Musk's DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency)under Trump fuels speculation he's pushing AI-driven governance—less "we the people," more "we the algorithms."

3.Cultural Edge: Traditional MAGA loves flags and hymns; Dark MAGA digs gothic, dystopian aesthetics. A Telegraph piece from March 2025 calls it the Right's cultural flex, ironic, in-your-face, mocking the Left's "joy" with a middle finger. It's not just anti-establishment; it's anti-everything that isn't its tribe.

Now, why does Dark MAGA rub liberty the wrong way? Traditional MAGA pays service to freedom, free markets, free speech, gun rights. Dark MAGA's got a different flavour:

Authoritarian Streak: Liberty's about rare power—checks, balances, individual say. Dark MAGA's obsession with a strongman Trump, backed by tech titans like Musk, smells more like top-down rule. A 2024 Times of India piece flags it as "authoritarian MAGA," with Musk's rally cry that Trump "must win to preserve democracy" sounding more like "win to end it." If democracy's just an obstacle, liberty's toast.

Tech Over People: Musk's AI push—think DOGE streamlining government—could shrink bureaucracy but also hands control to unelected systems. Social media warn of a "technate," where algorithms, not voters, call shots. Liberty thrives on human agency; Dark MAGA's tech fetish risks sidelining it.

Violence as a Tool: Studies, like one from PMC in 2024, show MAGA Republicans (especially the hardcore) justify violence more than others—43.5 percent for "reinforcing police," 13.1 percent for "Western traditions." Dark MAGA amps this up, with memes and rhetoric framing conflict as noble. Liberty's about peaceful dissent; this is about domination.

In-Group vs. Out-Group: Traditional MAGA's nativism still nods to universal rights (for "real" Americans). Dark MAGA's binary—us vs. them—shrinks that circle. A 2024 ECPR piece notes its memes use coded language (e.g., "woke mob") to exclude, not unite. Liberty's universal; Dark MAGA's tribal.

Traditional MAGA and liberty don't always align, its border walls and trade tariffs bend free-market ideals, but Dark MAGA outright rejects the framework. Traditional MAGA wants a republic with attitude; Dark MAGA wants a reckoning, maybe a monarchy or technocracy. Liberty demands open debate, not a vengeful purge. If Trump's the constitutional warrior for one, he's the dark avenger for the other, same guy, different dreams. And he probably is blissfully unaware of the philosophical battle of ideas of which he is a part.

https://www.technocracy.news/trumps-staff-is-stuffed-with-peter-thiels-counter-elite-technocrats/