MAGA Is Not a Lost Cause

Hey. I have to get something off my chest for this Midweek Meltdown. I’ve had a few people this week ask me directly why the heck I still spend time every day engaging with Trump’s MAGA base.

Why do you try to reach them, Joe? They’re unreachable.

It’s a waste of time, Joe — they’re lost.

Appreciate you, Joe. I get it. I know why you’re doing it, but it’s pointless. It’s a waste. They can’t be reached.

I’ve had maybe two, three, or four people actually message me, text me, email me this week with that very same message.

Stop, Joe. It’s pointless. Why do you spend time every single day engaging with MAGA? They’re gone. Can’t be reached.

Respectfully, I said to these four—and I say it to everybody who asks me that question—respectfully, you’re wrong. They’re not all unreachable. They’re not all lost. They are not. Trump’s MAGA hardcore base is not all members of a cult forever. They can get out. They can escape. They can be freed. Heck, I was.

Again, reminding everybody, why do I do it? Why do I engage with Trump voters every day? I left Trump publicly seven-and-a-half years ago. I left the MAGA cult seven-and-a-half years ago. I’m a reformed MAGA gangbanger. I still every day engage with Trump’s MAGA base because I was part of Trump’s MAGA base. I feel like it’s my duty, my responsibility. I’m a good Catholic boy. It’s my penance.

I helped to radicalize these folks. I helped to inflame these folks. You’ve heard me say that before. Call it my Catholic guilt, whatever. I feel obligated to do it. That’s why I do it. But more importantly, I do it because some of them can see the light. Some of them do find the way. I can help some of them get out of the MAGA cult, and I do, every week.

Here’s the deal: daily for seven-and-a-half years, I engage with hundreds of folk on various platforms—phone, email, texting, messaging, you name it. I engage with plenty of them every day and every week. I have fairly extensive conversations, sometimes conversations that’ll last a week or two or three, when I’m making progress with one.

And let me tell you something: it can help. I’m not getting thousands or tens of thousands out of the MAGA cult every week. But every week, I’m getting a few. Every week in the seven-and-a-half years that I’ve been doing this, I am able to get two or three or four hardcore Trump/MAGA folk to see the light and to leave Trump, to get off of Trump. Not always to say, “I’m gonna vote for a Democrat.” But to stop supporting Trump and to not vote for Trump.

So it does work. It can be done. And I’m not talking about mind-boggling, changing-election stuff. That would be the case if I were moving 10,000 off of Trump every week. But no. A few every week. Two to three to four every week. And who knows? I’ve been doing this every day for years. Those two to three to four every week talk to others. Who knows the impact it’s had?

I guess the point is, when people tell me, “Joe, it’s a waste of time, they’re all lost,” that’s wrong. And I’ve got the receipts. I’ve got the proof, because every week, some are found. Every week, I help move a couple out of the cult. It’s possible. And the template of what I do is to put little nuggets of truth in front of them repeatedly, persistently—nuggets of truth until they finally see the light.

I show them the things that Trump has said repeatedly and ask “what if Obama had said that,” or “what if Biden had said that,” and just repeatedly and respectfully keep putting it in front of them. I show them where Trump has just trampled the Constitution and the rule of law, and eventually, the light goes on for some of them. Some, not all.

Look, this is important to me. It’s part of my mission because of who I was: the MAGA Tea Party political asshole, the reformed MAGA gangbanger now. It’s part of what I must do, because it’s part of who I am. But it really does help. We should never—and can never—write off 40 percent of this country. We can’t write off 50, 60, 70 million people. I refuse to do that. And, again, I know it works, because I’ve seen it work every week.

Former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake tweeted something out a couple days ago, pleading with Republicans to speak out against the racist AI video Trump sent out, with Hakeem Jeffries in the sombrero. And I said to Jeff Flake, “Respectfully, man, that Republican Party’s gone.” There are no reasonable Republicans left. This is a MAGA political party for at least the rest of my lifetime. I believe that.

I don’t believe the Republican Party can be saved. It is the MAGA Party now. It’s the Trump Party. But individual MAGA voters can be saved, a few at a time. I refuse to write off 40 percent of this country. And it brings me great joy, as a reformed MAGA guy like me who saw the light, when I can help others see the light as well.

So respectfully, to all of you who’ve asked me to stop, because it’s a “waste of time”: it’s not a waste of time. It bears fruit. We should open our arms to the possibility of damn near anybody seeing the light and finding the way. Being found, baby—we need to open our arms to this always. And I know I’m going to continue to do it as long as I have breath.

There’s my meltdown for this week. Thank you. Be brave!

This Week

• SUBSTACK LIVE: Open to all subscribers, unless noted. Don’t miss it!

  • Tuesday with Ryan Shead (click if you missed it!)

  • Wednesday with Julie Roginsky (click if you missed it!)

  • Thursday, 7pm ET (Ask Me Anything! Paid subscribers only!)

  • “Welcome to the Party, Pal!”/Friday, 12pm ET (with Mike Nellis)

Did you catch Walsh Wednesday, my weekly meetup with Michael Cohen? If you missed it, here it is:

Raw and Unfiltered: Walsh Wednesday

Joe Walsh and Michael Cohen · Oct 1

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THIS WEEK’S INTERVIEWS & QUOTES

• Nothing to See Here...Just the U.S. President Threatening to Defund New York If They Elect the ‘Wrong’ Mayor —The Poke

• ‘Fascism’ Is Republicans’ New F-Word. Democrats Aren’t Deterred. —NOTUS

• ‘Speech is Speech’: Ex-GOP Lawmaker Rips Censorship —NewsBreak

• Trump’s Latest Threat Is Nothing Short of Domestic Terrorism —Raw Story

• Major Trump Critic Blasts JD Vance with a Blistering Message —NJ.com

• Joe Walsh Savages Democratic Party Months After Joining —Mediaite

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