I'm James and I left MAGA.
Hey everyone, Rich coming to you here at Leaving MAGA.org for the Midas Touch Network.
We got a brand new Leaving MAGA testimonial for you today.
James Hicks from the great state of Texas, a black American ex MAGA voter.
Let me bring him in here.
Hey James, I appreciate you being with us.
Thank you for reaching out to us.
So let's just get right into this. Tell me what made you gravitate to the Trump campaign
and the MAGA movement? What was it that was appealing to you?
And was being a black American, was there a particular appeal
that maybe had a racial component to it as well?
Well, what I would say that first off, I was alone.
I didn't feel welcomed wherever I went, whether it was in the community that I grew up or whether
it was the communities that I was experiencing at the moment.
And so I was always like on the edge, in the middle of different cultures and different
experiences. And so when my family would bring up that all of the things that we as black people
have gone through, I just didn't want to fight.
I didn't want to live a life of fighting.
I wanted to believe in something that could supersede all of that and that could just take
that all away from me. And eventually that led me to this moment where I saw Trump on TV and
he had these big promises. And I always thought that if somebody had these kind of big promises,
there's no way they could be bad. No one would go into something as big as the presidency and have
bad intentions, right? So I
gave him the benefit of the doubt and that was the start of one of the darkest periods in my life.
Thank you for sharing that because I know it's hard to recount that part of your story. And
there's these motifs that we heard throughout the 16 campaign, 20 with COVID,
this past election, feelings of isolation, of solitude.
You seemingly from the conversations we had, you dove really deep in pretty quickly.
I've got a photo here that you provided us that I want to show viewers.
So this is you with a Confederate flag wristband.
That one was probably 2015. I had already started making that rightward shift.
And then Trump came on the scene. But at that moment,
I ended up finding myself on Facebook groups and Twitter groups, trying to defend
people who were raising Confederate flags and talking about statues. Because I really thought
that if I took up these issues and started talking about them, I would be able to defend
because I really thought that if I took up these issues that they seemed to care so much about,
that they accept me too. That's what I was hoping. It did not turn out that way.
This is again wanting, we have this yearning because it's necessary to be part of a communal
existence. One of the reasons I was very particularly excited to speak with you is that
I think for a lot of Americans who are opposed to MAGA, they're going to see a Black
ex-MAGA American voter and supporter. It's easy to just think of everyone in a monolith,
whether it's one race, one ethnicity, one religion, but groups are not monolithic.
For some, they might hear you and without the context might think, well, that's illogical
that he would think that. But to me, it's not illogical because you found others who validated
you, who vindicated you, and you felt like being a part of a group who respected you. It makes sense
to me what you're saying. Tell me what life was like for you during Trump's first administration.
What kind of people were you around? What were some of the activities you were doing? What was
your MAGA activism like in that first administration? I would say starting off with the campaign,
I went to a rally and I told all of my family during that campaign season that this was the
guy that I supported and they all were telling me, you're crazy about that. We had a lot of
arguments, but I went to that rally and when I was there, everybody looked and they said that
they were just so glad that I was there. I thought that that was really genuine.
For example, there was this moment where this lady actually, she said, thank you for being here.
I didn't think that a black person would join this movement. I was just feeling elated,
but then she said, but you know, I still don't like black women.
I still don't like black women. At that moment, it didn't occur to me that she was actually
holding on to her beliefs. She wasn't letting me actually into the door. I thought that we were
having this conversation. At that moment, I thought when she said this, I thought, oh,
she's being open with me. Now that I'm here, perhaps then I can change things. I can make
things a better place for everybody. It didn't pan out that way. Throughout the administration,
I did not get any closer to other people in MAGA. I didn't. I was on my own. I was alone
like a fighting dog who was just going out and picking up all of these causes, all of their
causes, and trying to show that, hey, me, I, and other people of color, we are not threatening.
That's what I wanted to show them. Coming into 2020, I realized, I was seeing this, and I see
the George Floyd protests, and I realize, and I see the president's reaction, and I see all of the
reactions, all these really terrible, vile reactions from within MAGA, the MAGA that I had
been spending all of this time trying to reach out to, and I realized that I hadn't gained ground at
all. So tell me, so you have this realization, and it starts, as I always like to say, our epiphanies
happen gradually, and then suddenly, all at once. So you've got the George Floyd protests.
You've got doubts that commence. You're starting to question some of your beliefs. But how painful
was it to be personally rejected, given all of your advocacy? You've shown me Facebook posts.
You've shown me social media posts. I can relate to how devout you were, because you were a
I can relate to how devout you were, because I was myself. But take us through that personal
turmoil. You're shunned, and you're also starting to have, we'll call it a personal existential
crisis that you're supporting Trump and the movement. Take us through that, the emotions,
feelings that you're going through at the time. Yeah. So at that moment, what I always would do
whenever something terrible would actually happen within my community, where people were in real
pain, really hurt, because of what was going on, because there was just always some murder. There
was always some killing. But what I would do is I would take up for the people who
didn't like the protests. I would take up for the people who
thought that we were just being, that the people were just being too loud,
and that there was no way that there was racism in 2020 America. And this is what they want me to
believe. I mean, they didn't really even try, because I made all of these concessions. I wore
the wristband, I wore the flag. I would go all over my Facebook, all over Twitter, saying,
hey, you know what, protect the Confederate monuments. I would go all over my Facebook,
protect the Confederate monuments, protect the Confederate flag, protect these symbols,
protect white pride. White pride matters. Not black lives, all lives. I do all this. I do all
this. I keep doing it. And I'm like, okay, there's going to be this beautiful America
that they're going to show me. Trump said in the beginning that there was going to be this unity,
and I've been waiting four years. Come on, please show it to me. And what ends up happening, he
takes, you know, a black person is killed, and he takes a Bible and the military and threatens
military action against protesters. And it was just crazy that somebody would have thought that
that was purposeful, that that was good. I couldn't understand what was in his head. And then,
this is also during COVID, and I'm just seeing all of these people. I was working at a restaurant
at the time. I'm seeing all of these people just dropping like flies, and the president of the
United States that I put all of this trust in, he's still telling us not to social distance,
not to wear masks. He's sending us to die out there. And I'm hearing these other supporters
saying that they didn't care what happened to them. They had made peace with God. And I'm like,
you don't have to resign yourself to die. President, just please tell us that we don't
have to die like this. And it was all of these things at the same time. And I was coming to
understand that somehow he didn't care. And... It's hard realization, right? It's difficult to
acknowledge that in the moment. And I will tell you that COVID mismanagement,
that was one of the factors that eventually led me on a pathway to leaving.
This is pretty remarkable, not surprising, but remarkable candor, James, on your part. And
as I was thinking about our conversation, preparing for it,
I want to ask you, why is it important to you to speak out publicly
for doing all of this? I know you're going to tell me, I know you're going to tell me,
why is it important for doing all of this? I know you're going to take a lot of heat
from a lot of people doing this, but why do it? Tell me what's motivating you to want to
offer this story publicly.
I want people to be able to get out and live their lives. I want people to be able to be free.
For me, I could not have made all of these improvements in my life if I was still stuck
looking for some aspiring dictator strongman guy to save me. There is nothing in this movement for
us. There's nothing in there. There's nothing in it for us. And when I saw during the last campaign
cycle, and I saw some, I saw more black people and Hispanic people breaking out that way, and
I saw them running in when I was getting out. And I was like,
and I was like, guys, don't go. Don't fall down that rabbit hole. It's a dead end.
Well, I can tell you, James, that there are going to be some black Americans who are in
the MAGA community who are going to see this. And I just want to credit you for your intrepidity,
your bravery in telling this story. I also want to welcome you to our leaving MAGA community,
welcome you to the Midas Touch Network as a Midas Mighty here at our community.
Where can viewers find you? You've got some videos that you've made. I'd like for our viewers to be
able to watch those. Where can they find them and reach you at? On YouTube, it's at Dreneth Dolly.
Spell it for us. Spell it for the viewers. It's D-R-E-N-T-H-D-O-L-L-Y. And then also the
channel name is called Crude Spice. Crude Spice. Yep. Okay. And also the, I do have a Blue Sky
where I'm also trying to figure out that stuff as well. I want to. What's the handle there? What's
your Blue Sky handle? It's Dreneth Dolly. It's the same as with the, with the YouTube. Got it. But
I'm really hoping that I get to talk with people and I really want to help with this deprogramming
process because we, we're, we, we, we should, we can have dignity. We should have dignity.
We can't live like this. Like, um. Yeah, it's true. It's true about with the,
I could tell you from my seven years in the MAGA community,
myriad times I dehumanized others. And, you know, I can see in your face, I can hear it in your tone
and tenor your remorse. I want you to know, don't worry. There are going to be lots and lots of
people who are going to see this story, who are going to want to connect with you. And again,
I want to welcome you to the, to the MAGA community. As we sign off here, as we like to do in all of
our Leaving MAGA videos, we've got James Hicks from the great state of Texas. James,
I want to thank you for being here. I'm Rich and I left MAGA.
I'm James and I left MAGA.
Thanks so much, James. Appreciate you being here.
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