WALL STREET JOURNAL: How MAGA Is Taking Back the Culture: In sports, entertainment and marketing, displays of conservatism are crowding out progressive postures.
Across many facets of society—in sports, entertainment, the classroom and the workplace—there are signs that MAGA isn’t just retaking the White House. It is gaining a firmer foothold in the broader culture.
Instead of taking a knee to call for social justice, NFL players are doing the “Trump dance” in the end zone at football games. Mainstream entertainers, among them the country singer Carrie Underwood and the rapper Snoop Dogg, agreed to perform at events celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration, something music stars largely shunned eight years ago.
A new generation of Trump-friendly comedians and wellness influencers is populating YouTube and other social media, while a snippet of audio featuring Barron and Melania Trump has become one of the hottest online memes, with celebrities such as Paris Hilton and brands including Frontier Airlines using it in their TikTok and Instagram posts.
“Every time I walk on campus, I see a few MAGA hats. That’s definitely new,” said Carson Carpenter, 19, a senior at Arizona State University. Conservatism, he said, “has really become intertwined in our pop culture…. It’s really showing that conservatism is cool now.”
Off campus, Americans who once hid their support for Trump now wear it on their sleeves, or their hats. Trevor Traina, a tech entrepreneur and former ambassador in the first Trump administration who lives in San Francisco, said he felt the shift when he co-hosted a June fundraiser for Trump in the ritzy, liberal neighborhood of Pacific Heights.
Instead of the expected protests, Traina said, the event drew “more than 100 people in red MAGA hats walking around Pacific Heights. And, you know, in my life, we’ve never seen anything like that. Republicans in San Francisco used to walk around with Groucho Marx glasses and scarves over their heads, you know, scurrying in the shadows.”
The preference cascade has cascaded.