{"id":1086,"date":"2026-06-05T11:06:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1086"},"modified":"2026-06-05T11:06:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T11:06:44","slug":"ex-right-wing-influencer-warns-maga-still-a-dangerous-cult","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1086","title":{"rendered":"Ex-right wing influencer warns MAGA still a dangerous cult"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A former top MAGA influencer still blasts the MAGA cult and the operators that drive the movement from the top.<\/p>\n

Read more The reason Trump keeps failing<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe structure and the architecture of MAGA is very indistinguishable from a cult,\u201d explained Ashley St. Clair, Elon Musk’s ex-lover, former MAGA influencer and the mother of one of his children, in a podcast appearance with The Left Hook\u2019s Wajahat Ali. Describing how she dropped out of college to be a full-time MAGA influencer while dating an older man who served MAGA under the name DC Drano, she described how \u201che was molding me. He was like, \u2018Here’s what you put on the sign outside of the ICE detention center,\u2019 directing my content. \u2018Here’s how you monetize Instagram, here’s how you do all this.\u2019 So I was very much molded by that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Described by Ali as a former “dutiful MAGA bot” who once repeated “all the clich\u00e9 talking points,” St. Clair now says leaving the cult is one of the hardest things to do.<\/p>\n

“[O]nce … you’re with this very controversial crowd online, you cannot just change your political views. Changing your political views means you’re blowing up your whole life \u2014 your social community, the way you provide for your family, the roof over your head. It’s not just like, \u2018Oh, now I believe in less fiscal conservatism.\u2019 It is really going against people who do not take kindly to people leaving their gang.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Clair continued, \u201cYou’re on the receiving end of a lot of smear campaigns, attacks, and harassment \u2014 things that frankly put your family in danger \u2014 to speak out and go against the grain. And not that it’s an excuse \u2014 I don’t want anyone to think that the things I’m saying right now are an excuse for the rhetoric I was involved in \u2014 but rather I’m trying to understand the pathology of how people get stuck in this, and feel like they don’t have a way out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the conversation, Ali returned to the subject of why so many people in the Trump movement stand by him. He found a potential motive in addition to it being a political cult.<\/p>\n

Read more Billionaire Democrats are letting Trump win \u2014and insiders say it\u2019s \u2018disgusting\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a contributor at CNN \u2014 a contributor, rather, I should say \u2014 in the green room, this was right before COVID, nearly every single Trump supporter that I went on and debated with on a panel, pretty much across the board \u2014 I would say except two at the time, actually: Paris Denard and Geoffrey Lord \u2014 everyone in the green room said, \u2018I can’t stand Trump, he’s so annoying, the MAGA movement is so stupid, look at these idiots.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the cameras started rolling, however, Ali said all he heard from them was \u201cMAGA talking point, MAGA talking point, MAGA talking point.\u201d He claimed he responded by telling them \u201c\u2018You know, no one’s putting a gun to your head. You could literally just join me and call them out.\u2019 And they said, \u2018Yeah, but this is where my bread is buttered. This is how you stay relevant.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Clair is not the only ex-Trumper to describe the MAGA movement as a cult. In February, former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) made the same point in a Substack post while describing Trump\u2019s militant behavior toward Greenland, Venezuela and Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought you wanted him to end wars all over the world,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cYou said you wanted him to end American entanglement in conflicts and wars around the world. America shouldn\u2019t be involved in these wars, you said. That\u2019s why you\u2019re voting for Trump, you said.\u201d Then, despite Trump\u2019s actions against Denmark, Venezuela and Iran, they still support him.<\/p>\n

Walsh continued, \u201cYou\u2019ve got no argument against people calling you a cult. And if he takes us to war against Iran, and you clap and applaud and throw him flowers, Trump supporters, I will be at the front of the parade calling you a cult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Absolute chaos\u2019 as Trump hand-picks attendees for White House UFC fight<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former top MAGA influencer still blasts the MAGA cult and the operators that drive the movement from the top.\u201cThe structure and the architecture of MAGA is very indistinguishable from a cult,\u201d explained Ashley St. Clair, Elon Musk’s ex-lover, former MAGA influencer and the mother of one of his chi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-right wing influencer warns MAGA still a dangerous cult - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1086\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-right wing influencer warns MAGA still a dangerous cult - 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