MAGA extremism's hold on the GOP—and how we got here

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     September 8, 2022 A little over a year ago, I went looking for a history of the Republican Party’s interactions with far-right fanaticism. I knew that Donald Trump—whose political support has depended, in part, on his courtship of conspiracy theorists, racists, nativists, Christian nationalists, and other extremists—hadn’t invented this. I found several excellent books on the Grand Old Party, including Heather Cox Richardson’s To Make Men Free. Rick Perlstein’s magisterial series of histories—Before the Storm, Nixonland, The Invisible Bridge, and Reaganland)—which covered the rise of Barry Goldwater and the conservative movement, the triumph and fall of Richard Nixon, and the advent of the Reagan Era—included stellar accounts of Republican politics from the 1950s to 1980. But no one had zeroed in on the party’s relationship with extremism. So, I decided to do so. I pored over 200 or so books and hundreds, if not thousands, of newspaper and magazine articles, as well as material in various archives, and found a pattern: since the 1950s, the Republican Party has brazenly encouraged and exploited right-wing extremism. And so was born my new book [American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy](. It chronicles how the Republicans have fueled and fed on the worst elements of American public life since the McCarthy era. This includes Eisenhower surrendering to McCarthy in 1952; Goldwater’s alliance with the Birchers; Nixon’s racist Southern strategy; the rise of the New Right and the religious right (and their politics of hatred); Reagan’s partnership with the Moral Majority, whose leaders called for executing gay people, and his political ties to former Nazi collaborators (yes, really); the Limbaughization, Foxification, and Gingrichization of the GOP; the Bushes’ reliance on far-right and extreme (and bonkers) Christian right operatives; Palinism (as in Sarah); the Tea Party; and—ta dum!—Trump. The book demonstrates that the GOP has always depended (to a degree) on right-wing extremism and has frequently and recklessly fanned irrationality to capitalize on the politics of grievance, resentment, and race. When I set out to write this book, I had no idea how relevant it would be. As a debate now ensues over the hold that MAGA extremism has on the GOP and whether Trump has led the Republicans toward fascism, American Psychosis vividly details the larger historical context for this conversation about extremism and the party. The Republican Party does not acknowledge its dark history of partnering with the fringe, and the media has often ignored or inadequately covered this important story. When I set out on this project, my goal was to write a rollicking account that would help us understand what brought us—and the GOP—to the crisis of today. I never expected these tales of the past to be so timely. I hope you'll take the time to read and spread the word about [American Psychosis,]( which comes out on September 13. —David Corn Advertisement [UC Press - Turner]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [How Much Money Has Marjorie Taylor Greene Lost on Trump’s Social Media Company?]( The far-right lawmaker bet big on TruthSocial. BY RUSS CHOMA [Trending] [Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-serving monarch, has died]( BY JAMES WEST   [Your home may one day have its own clean-hydrogen unit]( BY DONNA LU   [Masks are now optional on New York City transit]( BY ABIGAIL WEINBERG   [Sydney "Sea of Roofs" plan will wipe out critical koala habitat, critics say]( BY LISA COX Advertisement [UC Press - Turner]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [Rubio blasted Clinton for her emails. Now he says Trump's theft of top-secret records is no biggie]( The Republican Senator and intelligence committee member says it's just a "storage" issue. Uh huh. BY DAVID CORN [Fiercely Independent] Support from readers allows Mother Jones to do journalism that doesn't just follow the pack. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755