Steve Bannon was one of the key people who helped get Donald Trump elected in 2016. He is one of the inventors of the ‘Make America Great Again’ (‘MAGA’) agenda, which lasts to this day.
Bannon and Trump had a falling out early on in Trump’s first turn as president. Trump is in the habit out with aides, although the two of them have had something of a rapprochement since then.
Bannon still hosts a popular podcast called ‘The War Room’. Essentially he is an insurgent and he supports political movements in any country that are opposed to what he calls ‘the elite’, or the ‘deep state’, which is to say, the people he believes are running our countries into the ground for their own benefit and feel more attachment and loyalty to each other than to the nations in which they were born.
Relevant
Why is any of this relevant to Ireland? The reason is that in an interview he gave to the online magazine, Politico, at the end of December, Bannon announced “I’m spending a ton of time behind the scenes on the Irish situation to help form an Irish national party.”
It’s not at all clear who he is speaking to. Maybe Eddie Hobbs?
He said: “They’re going to have an Irish MAGA, and we’re going to have an Irish Trump. That’s all going to come together, no doubt. That country is right on the edge thanks to mass migration”.
Bannon (who is of Irish ancestry) looks at other European countries and sees that France has the National Rally under Marine Le Pen and her sidekick, Jordan Bardella.
Germany has the Alternative for Germany, currently leading in the polls there. Hungary has Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party which has been in power for 16 years straight but is currently projected to lose April’s General Election.
In Italy, there is Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister, although she has turned out to be more of a traditional centre-right figure, than radical right.
In Britain, there is Nigel Farage, and his Reform party, which are currently leading in the polls.
Other examples, from more or less across Europe can be given, and in America, of course, there is Trump.
The basic unifying theme of all ‘MAGA’ style movements is that ultra-globalisation and the erosion of national sovereignty and national borders has been harmful to the interests of ordinary voters.
In America, for example, many jobs were exported to countries like China or Mexico, where labour is cheaper than in America. This makes particular American companies like Apple much richer, but maybe not to the benefit of American workers.
America also gets flooded by cheap goods, from China and elsewhere. This can actually help ordinary Americans because basic goods can become cheaper to buy. On the other hand, it might be at the expense of American jobs.
Then there is immigration. During the Biden presidency, millions illegally entered America via the Mexican border coming from all parts of Latin America and even further afield than that in some cases.
In Europe for quite some time now, an equivalent to MAGA has existed. The Farage-led campaign for Britain to leave the EU is a big example of this”
This annoyed an awful lot of American voters who felt they were losing control of their country, that they were taking in more than they could manage, and that it was helping to drive down wages among low-paid workers.
Trump has now been ruthlessly expelling migrants who are in the country illegally, something regularly and rightly condemned by Church leaders for its heavy-handedness.
In Europe for quite some time now, an equivalent to MAGA has existed. The Farage-led campaign for Britain to leave the EU is a big example of this. Britain does not seem to be doing well out of that move, although Reform supporters would say this is because British ‘elites’ don’t want Brexit to succeed and therefore have been frustrating it every inch of the way.
Farage also wants to drastically reduce immigration, and even the ruling Labour party has said it wants to do the same thing.
In fact, across Europe most mainstream parties, whether of the centre-right or centre-left, are now saying they want to reduce immigration because a majority of voters in nearly all countries want to see it reduced. They think their countries are changing too much and they think high immigration is partly responsible for high house prices.
France
In countries like France, a lot of voters believe that France isn’t what is used to be, that formerly strong French industries, like car manufacturing, are declining fast, and they don’t like it. They blame globalisation.
Something similar is happening in Germany, where the car industry used to be the backbone of the economy.
It can easily be counter-argued that the decline of these industries in Europe, partly under pressure from China, was inevitable, but many voters don’t see it that way, and in fact, regard this argument as more evidence that the ‘elites’ are trying to pull the wool over their eyes.
It means the Government has plenty of money at its disposal, unlike say in Britain or France, and this means a lot of voters can effectively be bought off”
So, what are the prospects for a MAGA-type party in Ireland that Bannon seems to have in mind, and why are we one of the only countries in Europe where nothing like this has emerged yet, despite a big majority of voters being annoyed by the current high rate of immigration, the awful housing crisis, the cost of food and heating and so on?
I think one big reason is that our economy is doing much better than in most other Western countries. This is due almost entirely to the American multi-national companies based here. But it means the Government has plenty of money at its disposal, unlike say in Britain or France, and this means a lot of voters can effectively be bought off.
Support
In addition, the older voters Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rely on for support are fairly comfortable with the status quo. They mainly own their homes already, and don’t live in areas with lots of migrants. These voters are not minded to rock the boat, even though their children can’t afford to buy a house or rent a flat for the most part.
Young people, on the other hand, have turned mainly to Sinn Féin and other parties of the left, rather than to the right.
For the time being, therefore, this does not leave much room for a MAGA-type party to emerge here, especially as no charismatic leader has appeared who might lead such a movement.
Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín, is incredibly hard-working and now sees his party regularly on about 5% in the polls”
Aontú is trying to provide an alternative to the status quo parties from a perspective that is socially conservative, but economically on the left.
Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín, is incredibly hard-working and now sees his party regularly on about 5% in the polls. There is a decent likelihood that Aontú will form part of a future Government.
Maybe a MAGA-type movement will eventually burst onto the scene here, but for the time being, the challenge to the status quo will come mainly from the left, and to a lesser extent from Aontú.
What are the prospects for a MAGA-style party in Ireland?
Steve Bannon was one of the key people who helped get Donald Trump elected in 2016. He is one of the inventors of the ‘Make America Great Again’ (‘MAGA’) agenda, which lasts to this day.
Bannon and Trump had a falling out early on in Trump’s first turn as president. Trump is in the habit out with aides, although the two of them have had something of a rapprochement since then.
Bannon still hosts a popular podcast called ‘The War Room’. Essentially he is an insurgent and he supports political movements in any country that are opposed to what he calls ‘the elite’, or the ‘deep state’, which is to say, the people he believes are running our countries into the ground for their own benefit and feel more attachment and loyalty to each other than to the nations in which they were born.
Relevant
Why is any of this relevant to Ireland? The reason is that in an interview he gave to the online magazine, Politico, at the end of December, Bannon announced “I’m spending a ton of time behind the scenes on the Irish situation to help form an Irish national party.”
It’s not at all clear who he is speaking to. Maybe Eddie Hobbs?
He said: “They’re going to have an Irish MAGA, and we’re going to have an Irish Trump. That’s all going to come together, no doubt. That country is right on the edge thanks to mass migration”.
Bannon (who is of Irish ancestry) looks at other European countries and sees that France has the National Rally under Marine Le Pen and her sidekick, Jordan Bardella.
Germany has the Alternative for Germany, currently leading in the polls there. Hungary has Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party which has been in power for 16 years straight but is currently projected to lose April’s General Election.
In Italy, there is Giorgia Meloni, the Prime Minister, although she has turned out to be more of a traditional centre-right figure, than radical right.
In Britain, there is Nigel Farage, and his Reform party, which are currently leading in the polls.
Other examples, from more or less across Europe can be given, and in America, of course, there is Trump.
The basic unifying theme of all ‘MAGA’ style movements is that ultra-globalisation and the erosion of national sovereignty and national borders has been harmful to the interests of ordinary voters.
In America, for example, many jobs were exported to countries like China or Mexico, where labour is cheaper than in America. This makes particular American companies like Apple much richer, but maybe not to the benefit of American workers.
America also gets flooded by cheap goods, from China and elsewhere. This can actually help ordinary Americans because basic goods can become cheaper to buy. On the other hand, it might be at the expense of American jobs.
Then there is immigration. During the Biden presidency, millions illegally entered America via the Mexican border coming from all parts of Latin America and even further afield than that in some cases.
This annoyed an awful lot of American voters who felt they were losing control of their country, that they were taking in more than they could manage, and that it was helping to drive down wages among low-paid workers.
Trump has now been ruthlessly expelling migrants who are in the country illegally, something regularly and rightly condemned by Church leaders for its heavy-handedness.
In Europe for quite some time now, an equivalent to MAGA has existed. The Farage-led campaign for Britain to leave the EU is a big example of this. Britain does not seem to be doing well out of that move, although Reform supporters would say this is because British ‘elites’ don’t want Brexit to succeed and therefore have been frustrating it every inch of the way.
Farage also wants to drastically reduce immigration, and even the ruling Labour party has said it wants to do the same thing.
In fact, across Europe most mainstream parties, whether of the centre-right or centre-left, are now saying they want to reduce immigration because a majority of voters in nearly all countries want to see it reduced. They think their countries are changing too much and they think high immigration is partly responsible for high house prices.
France
In countries like France, a lot of voters believe that France isn’t what is used to be, that formerly strong French industries, like car manufacturing, are declining fast, and they don’t like it. They blame globalisation.
Something similar is happening in Germany, where the car industry used to be the backbone of the economy.
It can easily be counter-argued that the decline of these industries in Europe, partly under pressure from China, was inevitable, but many voters don’t see it that way, and in fact, regard this argument as more evidence that the ‘elites’ are trying to pull the wool over their eyes.
So, what are the prospects for a MAGA-type party in Ireland that Bannon seems to have in mind, and why are we one of the only countries in Europe where nothing like this has emerged yet, despite a big majority of voters being annoyed by the current high rate of immigration, the awful housing crisis, the cost of food and heating and so on?
I think one big reason is that our economy is doing much better than in most other Western countries. This is due almost entirely to the American multi-national companies based here. But it means the Government has plenty of money at its disposal, unlike say in Britain or France, and this means a lot of voters can effectively be bought off.
Support
In addition, the older voters Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael rely on for support are fairly comfortable with the status quo. They mainly own their homes already, and don’t live in areas with lots of migrants. These voters are not minded to rock the boat, even though their children can’t afford to buy a house or rent a flat for the most part.
Young people, on the other hand, have turned mainly to Sinn Féin and other parties of the left, rather than to the right.
For the time being, therefore, this does not leave much room for a MAGA-type party to emerge here, especially as no charismatic leader has appeared who might lead such a movement.
Aontú is trying to provide an alternative to the status quo parties from a perspective that is socially conservative, but economically on the left.
Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín, is incredibly hard-working and now sees his party regularly on about 5% in the polls. There is a decent likelihood that Aontú will form part of a future Government.
Maybe a MAGA-type movement will eventually burst onto the scene here, but for the time being, the challenge to the status quo will come mainly from the left, and to a lesser extent from Aontú.
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