“The greatest threats to democracy are racism, the undereducated, and the Republican Party led by a demagogue.” – John Johnson II, 07/10/25
By John Johnson II
Republican Congress members, with the backing of billionaire benefactors, have long deceived their own white constituents through a strategy that weaponizes racism. Echoing former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s insight, they push racist rhetoric to convince MAGA voters to accept the gutting of social programs—programs largely designed to help them.
Trapped in a belief of racial superiority, many MAGA supporters have unknowingly become victims of the very policies they champion. Their votes support policies that increase their own suffering—burdening them with debt, eroding the rule of law, and treating justice as a political tool.
Ronald Reagan’s infamous “welfare queen” narrative demonized Black Americans while hiding the reality: most welfare recipients were—and still are—white. As of 2024, 19.5 million white Americans live below the poverty line, the highest total of any group. But because poverty stats are framed by percentages, the full scope is obscured.
Racism and misinformation keep MAGA voters from seeing that Republican policies contribute directly to their economic decline. Trump’s recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” represents the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to billionaires in U.S. history, slashing funding for critical safety net programs like Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI, and more.
White Americans are the largest group receiving benefits from these programs. Yet many MAGA voters remain unaware that this legislation will leave millions without health care, housing, food assistance, or energy aid.
It’s time for MAGA voters to wake up. Their continued support of a political movement more cynical and destructive than the Jonestown tragedy threatens not just themselves but democracy itself. They must ask: what will it take to drain a swamp now ruled by a billionaire-serving Republican Party, a complicit Congress, and a conservative Supreme Court?
America is at a crossroads. Will we uphold democracy—or allow racism, ignorance, and greed to dismantle it?
YOU BE THE JUDGE.
