So Republicants think the Commies are here?

[Celerity]

10. Meet America's 'Maga communists'

Though the two philosophies seem at odds, Maga communism is just an extreme example of horseshoe theory — where ultra-left and far-right meet over a common cause

https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/maga-communists-of-america-jackson-hinkle-nsr06cgvv


Haz al-Din, whose real name is Adam Tahir
instagram

There is good reason to be bewildered by people like Jackson Hinkle. On the one hand, the 26-year-old Californian is a staunch believer in the need to “Make America Great Again” — the anti-globalist philosophy that swept President Trump to victory with a promise to put “America first”. On the other, he’s a Marxist with a soft spot for Presidents Xi and Putin. He’s also moved to Moscow.


Jackson Hinkle is a staunch believer in the need to “Make America Great Again”. He’s also a Marxist
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty images

Put the two together and you get Maga communism: one of the most extreme examples of the “horseshoe” grey zone in American politics — where ultra-left and far-right meet over common cause. Maga communism made headlines last week when Hinkle attended the funeral of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and led mourners in chants of “down with USA”. Its advocates believe in nationalising banking and big tech and breaking up big agriculture and pharmaceutical companies. But, much like Trump, they also want lower taxes and closed borders. They reject identity politics as “bourgeois decadence”.


Hinkle in Tehran
x/afpost

Hinkle has become the standard-bearer of the Maga-communist cause. He has 3.8 million followers on X, including four British MPs, although reports from two Israeli research companies claim up to 40 per cent of these followers might be state-sponsored bots. Hinkle has lived in Moscow for almost two years and is a regular feature on state-run media in Russia, China and Iran. On X he has described his ideology as one that advocates for “the revolutionary, populist, anti-establishment, authentic working-class base” and opposes “endless wars, Wall Street, monopolies and the banking cartels”.


Hinkle and Grace Krantz during their high school’s homecoming parade in San Clemente, California in 2017
Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register/Getty Images

Recent posts on social media have focused on international issues. He has called Khamenei a “hero”, Israel a “fake country” and Ukraine a “danger to the international community”. Hinkle’s earliest activism was as an indistinguishable teenage “Bernie bro”, the nickname for male supporters of the left-wing politician Bernie Sanders. He twice stood unsuccessfully for the city council in the small city of San Clemente in Orange County, California. Although he now describes himself as “pro-fossil fuel”, he was once an environmental activist campaigning against the construction of an oil pipeline. He was featured in Teen Vogue as a top “young environmentalist” and named one of “the 17 most inspirational kids of 2017” by Reader’s Digest.

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