• Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
Monday, June 30, 2025
Illinois Review
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
No Result
View All Result
Illinois Review
No Result
View All Result
Home Illinois News

Cortes: President Trump just made ‘This is MAGA Country!’ the new ‘basket of deplorables’

Illinois Review by Illinois Review
July 3, 2019
in Illinois News
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
1
26
SHARES
433
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Screen Shot 2019-07-03 at 10.53.03 AM
Trump in Orlando | USAToday photo

You might also like

Trump’s Jobs Boom Skips Illinois—Thanks to Pritzker’s Tax Hikes

Opinion: We’ll Save You If We See You Burning

Caught Off Guard: Pritzker Left Speechless on Women’s Restroom Question Amid Sanctuary City Testimony

By Steve Cortes - 

Infamous hate-crime hoaxer Jussie Smollett may not have his television show anymore, but he seems to be killing it as a Donald Trump speechwriter.

“This is MAGA country!” the President proudly announced to the packed arena at the Orlando, Florida kickoff rally for his 2020 reelection campaign.

C3hU9frWcAEpzzuSmollett may want to check with the Screen Writers’ Guild to see if he can get the formal writing credit for that one. The phrase he coined in his fake crime report to the Chicago police fit in so perfectly with the high-energy, optimistic mood of the rally that President Trump used it over and over.

He even snuck it in as he asked the crowd of 20,000 diehard supporters which slogan they liked better for his 2020 campaign, “Make America Great Again” or “Keep America Great.” The President inadvertently stumbled upon a fantastic third option: “This is MAGA country!”

Despite his evident desperation for any shred of public attention he can get, I somehow doubt that old Jussie would be pleased by that enthusiastic appropriation of his signature catchphrase.

After all, he coined it in an attempt to convince Americans that roving bands of Trump supporters were prowling the streets of downtown Chicago in the dead of night — during a polar vortex, no less — looking for black and/or gay people to beat up.

The entire tale was so absurd that only the mainstream media could have believed it. The rest of just laughed as gullible news anchors breathlessly recounted the details in order to demonstrate just how horrible Trump voters were.

Of the many eyebrow-raising claims that Smollett made to police when he reported the “attack,” the most absurd by far was the assertion that his assailants shouted “This is MAGA country!” as they beat him, despite the fact that Chicago is one of the bluest places in America.

It was no innocent embellishment. The claim was designed to reinforce the vicious lie, taken as an article of faith by many on the left, that Trump supporters are violent, hateful, and ignorant.

The media compliantly helped to ram the hoax down America’s throat, declaring that incidents like the one Jussie made up were “far-right [read: “Trump”] America's endgame.” In fact, some media outlets continued to smearordinary Trump supporters as “bigots” over the imaginary attack even after it became clear that it never happened.

In Orlando, Donald Trump transformed Smollett’s smear into a rallying cry — just as his supporters did when Hillary Clinton called them “deplorables” — and in the process showed those who let themselves be duped by Smollett what “MAGA country” really is.

MAGA country is the tens of thousands of people who turned out to see President Trump announce his candidacy and launch his reelection campaign, standing in the rain for hours just for a chance to get a coveted seat in the Amway Center audience. MAGA country is the millions of others across the country whose support for the President is just as fervent. MAGA country is those who believed in the Trump revolution from the very beginning, and it’s also those who have been won over by the Trump administration’s proven record of economic success, good government at home, and tough resolve abroad.

MAGA country is all over: in the cities of Central Florida, in the industrial towns of the Upper Midwest that are finally flourishing again, and maybe — just maybe — even genuinely in downtown Chicago.

Like so much of the other vitriol that Hollywood elitists, Democratic politicians, and liberal journalists have slung at the President and his supporters over the last four years, the “MAGA country” slur is now just one more tool in the Trump arsenal. Being from MAGA country in 2020 is what being a “deplorable” was in 2016.

Steve Cortes is a CNN political commentator and a member of President Donald Trump’s Hispanic Advisory Council. This op-ed was exclusively offered to be published at IllinoisReview.com.

Related

Tags: Illinois ReviewMAGA countrySteve Cortes
Share10Tweet7
Previous Post

Thorner: Yes, Our Flag is Still There!

Next Post

Illinois: one of three worst-funded pension systems in the US

Illinois Review

Illinois Review

Founded in 2005, Illinois Review is the leading perspective and source of conservative news, opinion and information in Illinois. Follow Illinois Review on X at @IllinoisReview.

Recommended For You

JB Pritzker Receives 2% in Presidential Poll, Ranks Lowest in Minority Support Among Democrats

by Illinois Review
June 30, 2025
0
JB Pritzker Receives 2% in Presidential Poll, Ranks Lowest in Minority Support Among Democrats

By Illinois ReviewIn one of the first nationwide hypothetical polls for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, Illinois Governor and billionaire JB Pritzker ranks at the bottom, receiving the...

Read moreDetails

Trump’s Jobs Boom Skips Illinois—Thanks to Pritzker’s Tax Hikes

by Thomas Mccullagh
June 26, 2025
0
Trump’s Jobs Boom Skips Illinois—Thanks to Pritzker’s Tax Hikes

Illinois is missing out on Trump’s U.S. manufacturing boom. While other states welcome new factories, Pritzker’s tax hikes and regulations keep businesses out—and force longtime employers to leave.

Read moreDetails

Opinion: We’ll Save You If We See You Burning

by Janelle Powell
June 21, 2025
0
Opinion: We’ll Save You If We See You Burning

By Janelle Powell, Opinion ContributorIn a dazzling display of bureaucratic brilliance, the City of Chicago has rolled out a new policy for the Chicago Fire Department that essentially...

Read moreDetails

Caught Off Guard: Pritzker Left Speechless on Women’s Restroom Question Amid Sanctuary City Testimony

by Illinois Review
June 12, 2025
0
Caught Off Guard: Pritzker Left Speechless on Women’s Restroom Question Amid Sanctuary City Testimony

By Illinois ReviewIllinois Gov. JB Pritzker testified Wednesday before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee alongside fellow sanctuary city governors – occasionally appearing visibly stunned and...

Read moreDetails

OPINION: Judicial Watch Petitions U.S. Supreme Court Over Illinois Ballot Counting — A Possible Turning Point for Election Integrity

by Janelle Powell
June 6, 2025
0
OPINION: Judicial Watch Petitions U.S. Supreme Court Over Illinois Ballot Counting — A Possible Turning Point for Election Integrity

By Janelle Powell, Opinion ContributorIn what could be a landmark moment for restoring election integrity in Illinois, Judicial Watch has officially petitioned the United States Supreme Court to...

Read moreDetails
Next Post

Illinois: one of three worst-funded pension systems in the US

Please login to join discussion

Best Dental Group

Related News

IL Freedom Caucus calls on Lurie Children’s Hospital to cease gender services for kids

October 27, 2022

Beckman: Is the Brigham Young University racial slur controversy another hoax?

October 27, 2022

Salvi polling shows closer race

October 27, 2022

Browse by Category

  • America First
  • Education
  • Faith & Family
  • Foreign Policy
  • Health Care
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • Opinion
  • Science
  • Second Amendment
  • TRENDING
  • US NEWS
  • US Politics
  • World News
Illinois Review

© 2024 llinois Review LLC Editor in Chief Mark Vargas Publisher Thomas McCullagh Chief Counsel Scott Kaspar

Navigate Site

  • Checkout
  • Home
  • Home – mobile
  • Login/Register
  • Login/Register
  • My account
  • My Account-
  • My Account- – mobile

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • Health Care
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • TRENDING
  • Education
  • Foreign Policy
  • Second Amendment
  • Faith & Family
  • Science
  • World News

© 2024 llinois Review LLC Editor in Chief Mark Vargas Publisher Thomas McCullagh Chief Counsel Scott Kaspar

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?