What does it really mean to be MAGA?
Survey Says is a weekly series rounding up the most important polling trends or data points you need to know about, plus a vibe check on a trend that’s driving politics or culture.
What defines MAGA's culture?
Loyalty to President Donald Trump, who leads the “Make America Great Again” movement, is certainly a large part of it. But ask people what defines the movement’s cultural identity, and their answers don’t always match how MAGA sees itself.
For starters, the public is well aware of the movement. A YouGov poll from July found that 51% of Americans have heard “a lot” about MAGA, and 36% have heard a little. What’s striking, though, is who’s paying the closest attention: A higher share of Democrats (62%) than Republicans (48%) have heard a lot, suggesting their view of MAGA’s culture may be shaped more by outside narratives than by the movement's actual cultural touchstones.
When asked what cultural touchstones define MAGA Republicans, Americans tend to associate the movement with a very specific set of symbols: American flags (55%), Confederate flags (49%), the Trump-friendly musician Kid Rock (48%), Trump’s old reality show “The Apprentice” (44%), and podcaster Joe Rogan (39%).
MAGA Republicans see themselves somewhat differently, though. American flags (87%) and Kid Rock (66%) still figure highly on what they consider to be their movement’s touchstones, but they also consider Clint Eastwood (52%), steak (48%), and Ted Nugent (46%) to be up there.
Democrats have their own picture of what MAGA likes: Confederate flags (77%), “The Apprentice” (60%), and Kid Rock (59%) lead the list. But only 51% associate American flags with the movement.
YouGov asked about 40 cultural figures and symbols in total, though it’s not clear how they landed on these specific options. That’s a limitation of polling: Had respondents been given a blank sheet to describe their cultural identity, the answers might have looked very different.
Still, one pattern stands out.
“The uniting factor in a lot of this does seem to be the proximity of these symbols to Trump, which is not totally surprising given who MAGA is,” said Rachel Blum, a political science professor at the University of Oklahoma. “In that respect, they seem to share an opinion with the rest of the country: that some proximity to Trump is what defines them culturally.”
Big cultural fault lines run between the MAGA and non-MAGA wings of the Republican base.
Two-thirds of MAGA Republicans tie the movement to Kid Rock—twice the share of non-MAGA Republicans who say the same. The pattern repeats elsewhere: 87% of MAGA Republicans associate the movement with American flags, while only 56% of their non-MAGA counterparts do. The gap is wide on many others too, such as Clint Eastwood, Tim Allen, and even steak.
Blum says some of this can be explained by “differences of intensity.” Republicans may like many of the same things, but MAGA Republicans identify with them more strongly.
The split is even more stark with Rogan. Sixty percent of MAGA Republicans say they “like” or “love” Rogan, but just 25% of non-MAGA Republicans feel the same. Rogan endorsed Trump ahead of last year’s election, but recently, the podcaster has been more critical. That suggests Rogan’s support among the MAGA base might be less about what he’s saying now and more about what he said before.
“This seems like a good example of a place where that ‘like’ for Rogan is symbolic,” Blum said. “These people aren’t actually listening to his podcast. They just appreciate that this prominent podcaster supported their candidate, and they’re rewarding him for that.”
“There’s an extent to which conservatives have long felt that they’ve been left out of the culture or that the culture is biased against them,” she added. “So, you could see them being almost grateful when an important cultural figure seems like they’re finally on their side.”
Not everything tied to MAGA is overtly political, though.
Take steak and hamburgers for example. They’re hardly niche items, yet they’ve been absorbed into the MAGA cultural identity. That’s partly because food choices do break along party lines, according to some polls. Only 5% of Americans identify as vegetarian and 2% as vegan, but Democrats (35%) are quite a bit more likely than Republicans (21%) to say they’re cutting back on eating meat, according to a 2018 poll from YouGov for The Economist.
Among MAGA Republicans, meat is central to their cultural identity. Ninety-one percent say they like or love steak, and 90% say the same of hamburgers. Democrats also express broad enthusiasm for steak and burgers, though MAGA’s embrace of red meat has taken on a kind of cultural signaling of its own.
But MAGA’s cultural identity isn’t just about what its people consume—it’s also about what they tune out.
In recent months, Trump supporters have largely avoided the late-night shows the president rails against. A YouGov poll from September found just 4% of Republicans and 6% of Trump voters watch late-night TV every day, compared with 9% of Democrats and 12% of those who voted for Kamala Harris, last year’s Democratic presidential nominee. More than half of Republicans (51%) said they never watch late-night programs, roughly double the share of Democrats (27%).
That gap reflects more than viewing habits. For many, skipping late night is a political statement.
A similar cultural split is playing out with Taylor Swift. Her megastardom has accelerated during Trump’s second term, even as he lob insults her way—twice dismissing her as no longer “HOT.” But this isn’t just celebrity gossip. Swift has become a clear partisan marker.
According to an Navigator Research poll from August, Swift’s net favorability among Democrats is +49 percentage points, and among independents, it’s +8 points. But with Republicans, it’s -22 points—a stunning swing from two years earlier, when it was +15 points. That shift accelerated after Swift endorsed Harris over Trump, with the steepest drop among voters without college degrees.
What was once neutral pop-culture terrain has turned into another front in the culture wars.
Of course, expressed preferences don’t always reflect real-life behavior. Do people who say they dislike Swift actually stop listening to her music? Have right-leaning fans of late-night host Stephen Colbert actually tuned out? Polling can’t tell us that—but it’s a reminder that cultural identity is often messier than a clean partisan split.
There are other, quieter signals too. Republicans are less likely than Democrats to have read a book in the past year—62% vs. 73%—though majorities in both groups still have, according to a recent YouGov poll. Republicans are also most likely to report owning just one to four books, while Democrats clustered between owning 10 and 24.
That divide mirrors a broader realignment along educational lines.
Data from the well-regarded American National Election Studies shows that in the 1980s, Democrats held a 14-point edge with non-college-educated voters, while Republicans led by 5 points among college graduates. Now, that dynamic has flipped: Democrats’ working-class advantage has all but disappeared, while their lead with college-educated voters has surged to 14 points.
Democrats have become the party of the educated class—a strength that could also become a ceiling if they can’t reconnect with working-class voters.
Reading habits aren’t destiny, though. YouGov also found Republicans and Democrats were about equally likely to have a library card, a small reminder that cultural divides aren’t always as stark as they seem.
Of course, a few polls don’t tell the full story, and we shouldn’t rush to stereotype anyone based on a handful of numbers. Still, these early glimpses give us a sense—however tentative—of what being MAGA looks like culturally, and they raise questions we’ll be watching as the movement continues to evolve.
Any updates?
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New polling from The Economist/YouGov offers a snapshot of how Americans are navigating the ongoing government shutdown. A majority of Americans (54%) say they haven’t felt any personal impact from the shutdown so far. (Maybe they haven’t tried to catch a flight lately.) Still, 45% are optimistic it will end within a month, even though Democrats and Republicans remain deadlocked. And there’s strong agreement that federal workers should be made whole once this staring contest is over: 71% say those workers should receive back pay. Americans are also pushing back on Trump’s threats to use the shutdown to slash the federal workforce. A majority (54%) oppose the idea of permanently firing workers—likely because, at its core, it’s clearly unfair.
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The White House has embraced artificial intelligence, with first lady Melania Trump recently launching an “AI Challenge” for students and teachers to develop AI projects. But the public remains far more wary of AI. A new Pew Research Center report finds that 50% of U.S. adults are more concerned than excited about the higher use of AI in daily life, compared with just 10% who say they feel more excitement than fear.
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Two weeks ago, polls showed voters blaming Trump and Republicans for the government shutdown. But as the standoff drags on, a new AP-NORC poll shows the Democrats’ political advantage slipping. Fifty-eight percent say Trump and congressional Republicans bear “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of responsibility, while 54% say the same of congressional Democrats. Earlier polling showed Republicans more clearly on the hook. But now both parties are under fire, signaling that the shutdown is no longer a one-sided political liability—and that Democrats may face a tougher messaging fight than expected.
Vibe check
With high-profile elections looming in November, it’s easy to forget another fast-approaching deadline: the holidays—and for many, that means shopping for gifts.
YouGov finds that 22% of U.S. adults have already started or will start this month, but most are waiting: 36% plan to begin in November, and 13% will hold off until December.
I’ll admit it—gift-giving is one of my love languages, so I rarely set a budget. Most people are more disciplined, though: 56% will set a strict or rough spending limit, and 14% say they won’t shop at all this year, whether by choice or rising costs.
Among those shopping, plans vary: 17% plan to spend $100-$249 on holiday gifts this year, 21% say $250-$499, and 17% say $500-$1,000.
I’ll probably land in the middle—big family, big love for gifts. How about you?