Hi, I'm Tori and I love MAGA. Hey guys, Rich
Comadier here at WeavingMAGA .org with the Midas
Touch Network. We got a brand new Weaving MAGA
testimonial for you today. I want to bring her
in. Her name is Tori Hurst. She's from the great
state of Texas. She reached out to us after seeing
a story that we had put out there along with
our other testimonials, which you can find at
WeavingMAGA .org. Tori, first off, thank you
for being here today. Really appreciate you reaching
out to us and having the bravery to do this.
Let's just get right into this. Tell us what
it was about the MAGA community and Trump's campaign
that you found alluring and why you gravitated
to it. Yeah, so I've seen a lot of people talk
about MAGA being the party for people who feel
left behind. And I grew up really, really poor.
And a lot of the people in my life who showed
kindness to me were MAGA. So I was kind of told
that the way to be successful was to be a Republican
and to vote for Trump and to do MAGA things.
And when he first ran, it was my first election
where I was allowed to vote. So I remember voting
for him and feeling really proud and like, hey,
I did the right thing. I'm going to finally be
able to not live paycheck to paycheck anymore.
Like he's going to do great things because this
is what every trusted adult in my life was telling
me. Yeah, I think that the economic worries that
a lot of people had in supporting Trump, I feel
like those were and are valid reasons. I don't
think that candidate Trump then or President
Trump now actually has any solutions for working
families and for small business owners. I don't
say it is a self -defense, but I do think that
it was a legitimate and good reason that people
had for supporting Trump at the time. You know,
seeing jobs go overseas, watching once vibrant
communities get hollowed out. I knew people who
had lost business to foreign nations from their
own small business. So Trump really spoke to,
hey, the system. is rigging or the system is
rigged against so many working americans lower
income americans small business owners and i
don't i don't know that hillary really spoke
to that as well as she could have in hindsight
now of course looking back on it if i could do
it again i would have voted for hillary and for
and for joe in 2020 but Talk a little bit about
how you feel like your upbringing shaped some
of your political beliefs that led you to go
and support Trump. Yeah. So like I had mentioned,
I grew up really poor. I lived in Florida at
the time and my family, it was so bad that we
didn't have electricity sometimes in the summer.
And so I spent a lot of time really angry at
systems. Like I was told welfare is supposed
to save people and get them out of poverty. But
here I am a 16 year old girl and I can't even
afford a new pair of jeans to go back to school
this school year. So I'm being told like these
systems are here to save you. They're here to
protect you. But I felt really left behind by
them. And that was, like I said, a lot of time
where my friend's parents stepped up. And I'm
not going to discredit the kind things they did
for a child in poverty, but I do think that they
used that as a way to teach me what they felt
was right. And so I didn't take the time to develop
my own political opinions. And my parents never
talked about politics, really. So like I said,
I was really resentful of my parents for our
financial situation. I moved out of my parents'
house when I was 17. I was 17 when I moved out.
And I was living in this little trailer in the
back of an old woman's property. God bless her.
And like I said, I just really wanted to not
have to buy my food at the dollar store anymore.
And here comes Trump saying, hey, I'm going to
make America great again. And that you have to
couple that with I was never really taught American
history, right? Like this whole make America
great again thing. what period of time were we
talking about because in my mind i'm just thinking
about white families specifically and i'm a big
fan of owning my biases um white families specifically
being able to live on one income like a dad working
mom staying home being able to have a pension
have a car have a house and i was like man i
just i want that like i want to not have to work
60 hours a week and go to college to be able
to afford food not from the dollar tree And you
couple that with the people in my life that I
saw that were successful and they were MAGA.
I remember specifically one of my friend's parents
had a cup that said the liberals are coming with
a Paul Revere on it. And that was my favorite
coffee cup. I thought it was so funny. Ironically,
now that I've changed, I still want the coffee
cup. But it was like the perfect storm of I just
don't want to be poor anymore. Here's this man
that's from outside the system. I know he has
name recognition. I remember him from The Apprentice
growing up. And again, I was young when all of
that happened. So in my mind, he's super successful.
He had a whole TV show where he fired people
all the time. He has to be the best. And I didn't
know about the bankruptcies or any of that. Yeah,
I think that, again, you're illustrating how
there's a... There was a part of Trump's campaign
then, and I think it was applicable in 20 and
24, where apolitical Americans were attracted
to his candidacy. And you're saying it here about
him being an outsider. And again, I will not
say this as a self -defense, but to try to demythologize
a little bit some of the reasons that people
said, yeah, I'm going to go with Trump, especially
in 16, is that, yes, he ran as a Republican,
but he was a true outsider. He had no government,
no military, and no political experience whatsoever.
And I felt like, and I'm curious about your feelings
on this also, I felt like we needed somebody
who would come in and essentially obliterate
the established political order. I felt like
both parties were the same. I felt like they
neglected most Americans, just like you said
a moment ago, feeling unheard, unseen, left behind.
Those feelings and phenomena are real, and they're
valid. Did you feel that way with Trump? I know
what you're saying about maybe not knowing a
lot about his own history. Given your upbringing,
did you share some of those sentiments I did?
Which is, yes, we need somebody to come in and
just take a sledgehammer and a flamethrower to
the system. Yeah, absolutely. I think that, and
he made a lot of promises like that. And I want
to touch on something you said about not making
excuses. I'm a big fan of accountability. I made
my choices and I held my beliefs. So me sharing
this is not me making any excuses for that. I
have a lot of work to do to make up for those
choices. However, I do want people to understand
how you get there. And I guess that probably
goes better at the end of why I left. But yeah,
he came in. He made a lot of promises about,
I'm an outsider. I can see all these problems
because I'm an outsider and I'm not going to
take their money. And I was like, well, he's
an underdog. What does he have to lose? He's
not taking any money from it. He just wants to
help the American people. You know, I almost
feel like in this conversation, I'm bringing
my I'm putting myself back in 2015 and 16. And
some of those some of those feelings of exhilaration,
some of those feelings of we're making history,
you know, even right now they're being conjured
because I remember very well how I felt. And
I felt like, OK, just like you said, this person
doesn't need the job, doesn't need to do it.
Thus, he must be doing it for the right reasons
to make the country a better place for all Americans.
For me, Make America Great Again was not nostalgic.
I was 39 years old in 2016, so I'm now giving
my age out there for everyone. For me, it was,
and this sounds a little bit delusional to say
this, but it's the truth. I felt like Make America
Great Again was actually very progressive. and
forward -facing. I felt like it would be a new
epoch in American history. In fact, I even went
so far to say that Trump's victory in 2016 was
like a second founding of America. That's what
I thought. I thought it was that momentous of
a moment. Talk a little bit about after 2016.
We're on the winning side. You and I are both
on the victorious side. We're vindicated. were
validated. The entire world was against us. And
it's quite literal to say that we won against
the entire world. What was life for you like
in MAGA after 2016? What were some of the media
that you were consuming? What were some of the
activities that you engaged in? Yeah. So ironically,
the day I went to go vote, It was the day I,
the first time I ever got a promotion. I was
19 years old and I was finally promoted to a
manager within the insurance company I was working
for. And I was like, man, Trump is already doing
it for me. Like this has to be a cosmic sign.
And I remember when he won, things got easier,
obviously, because I started doing better financially.
And it really like helped feed into that idea
of this was the right choice. And then you start,
like I talked about the perfect storm. The first
Trump YouTuber I remember watching was John Burke.
I don't even know if he's mainstream anymore,
but that's who got me into it. And I have family
who's military. So John Burke was actually on
a military base when I happened to be visiting
in Louisiana. And I was still dealing with a
lot of big feelings about my upbringing and finally
starting to be able to afford things. And I remember
talking to him for a minute. And am I allowed
to cuss? he said heck those liberal nerds and
i felt so vindicated because he was like in my
mind this famous dude who was showing me kindness
and compassion and that fell into i watched a
lot of ben shapiro i lived for a ben shapiro
gotcha moment like that made me feel so superior
to everyone else so much smarter those little
gotcha traps um and that's a big thing with maga
are those gotcha traps i loved him um Oh my gosh.
There was a gentleman. His first name is Terrence.
I don't remember his last name anymore. Loved
him. And he was a black man who supported MAGA.
So I use that to like fuel my idea that Trump
can't be racist. Look at this black man on YouTube
sitting here defending him and like sharing his
ideals. There's no way that this is as bad as
it's being painted. Yeah. You see those, those
names, a lot of the testimonials that we've done,
which everyone can find that. Leaving MAGA .org.
You can also find them at our Leaving MAGA playlist
at the Midas Touch Network. A lot of the same
names keep popping up, Tori. You know, you're
talking about Ben Shapiro. You know, it's like
a Charlie Kirk moment at the Turning Point events.
You know, we own the libs in the debate. You
know, the liberals are coming, right? You know,
Paul Revere. And even though I didn't think of
it this way, and I don't think most in MAGA think
of it this way now, the shared enemy. of MAGA
is liberalism and liberal democracy, because
people feel like liberal democracy has failed
them and failed the country. And maybe you felt
that way also, right? Maybe you felt like this,
right? The system let you down. And here came
a guy who said, hey, let's tear it down. Let's
build it anew. These names, the way that you're
citing them, these are the influencers so many
others have mentioned in the stories that they've
told. Talk a little bit about why you left. Put
us in your life at that time, when the doubts
commenced, how you were feeling, some of the
moments that made you start to think. And I should
say, rethink your support and belief system.
Yeah. So, and this is a spot where I see a lot
of people say that nobody cares to leave MAGA
until it personally affects them. And I'm kind
of against the grain on that, right? So COVID
happened and I lost my mom and my grandpa within
two weeks of each other. And we don't know why
my mom passed, but we know my grandpa was confirmed
to have contracted COVID. And even then people
were saying, oh, COVID's fake, it's made up.
And I was like, you know what? I don't really
care why he died. All I know is I'm sad that
he did die. So that didn't really affect me.
I started to question the followers a little
bit then. I was like, yeah, but people are like
really sick. Why are we saying this doesn't exist?
And that kind of started the cracks. As far as
like the moment where I was like, okay, no, this
is not it. I was in college. I was on a road
trip actually. And I'd been assigned to watch
a PBS documentary about January 6th. And I was
sitting next to my now husband. And he was never
MAGA. We just didn't talk politics. And he never
forced me to leave MAGA either, to his credit.
But we were in the car, he was driving, and I
was watching this documentary for college. And
I remember them talking about the Proud Boys.
And I was like, what are the Proud Boys? What
is this? And watching that documentary, I learned
a lot of really, really not so nice truths about
Trump. And that led me down this path of asking
questions. Did this really happen? Could I have
context on this? Another example is like when
Trump mocked that disabled reporter. I never
saw that until 2022. I had no idea that happened
until I was already on my way out. So January
6th happened. I had no idea it happened. I really
thought it was like a peaceful protest. And everyone
in my echo chamber was MAGA. So nobody was talking
about it in a negative light. It kind of just
came and went. It was just another day for me.
When I found out what really happened, like,
sorry, I'm rambling now. When I found out what
really happened, that's when I started to question
it. I watched the rest of that documentary. I
found out how violent it really was. And that's
another thing is like at the core of MAGA, I
believe that people want to love America, not
the America that is, but the idea of America,
right? And I love the idea of America. So to
think that people could go and assault like the
foundations of what this country is, like they
preach constitutionalism, but then disregard
it when it does not suit them. And that was a
big breaking point for me were the contradictions.
Once I saw them, like there were so many contradictions.
We actually just released. Thank you for that.
And our condolences to you for your mom and your
grandpa. Thank you for sharing that. Cause I,
I'm sure that it's quite difficult to relive
those moments and COVID was a breaking point,
or I should say it, it started the breaking point
for so many. It was for me also. I did a, I gave
it. a video testimonial at the DNC convention
this past summer. And I said in there that, you
know, where a lot of my doubts started was really
with Trump's COVID mismanagement. There were
other reasons as well. And you and I left almost
around the same time because my official, I have
a leaving MAGAversary date. It's my official
departure date. I published Amea Culp on August
30th, 2022. And you were right around that time
also. November of 2022. Yeah, so I'm August,
you're November. And now here we are, three years
later, talking about our stories of leaving MAGA.
This is really a testament to your courage in
telling your story. And I want to segue into
that as we look to wrap up here. So why do you
feel the need to speak out? Why do you want to
tell your story for others? What do you feel
like you really want others to know and hear?
Yeah, I think that people assume that you go
into MAGA and you're just this hate -filled individual.
And for me, again, that's not true. I was volunteering
at animal shelters. I would volunteer for anything,
really. I was a loving friend. I was a loving
girlfriend. I was a good employee. MAGA was never
about hate in the beginning for me. MAGA was
about what opportunities it could provide to
me, which is selfish. And I'm a big fan of owning
that. I want people to know that the reason that
I speak out about MAGA is not to absolve myself
of that. It's because there are people who are
starting to see those cracks, who are starting
to... kind of take that exit out and the only
reason i was ever comfortable like really denouncing
maga was because my now husband allowed me a
space to like ask those really tough questions
and feel safe so i think for us to end kind of
what's going on there and get people to leave
the movement it takes them feeling safe and having
a space to ask those questions and that doesn't
mean that everybody has to allow them that space
right like real harm has been done But it does
mean that if you are somebody who's willing and
able to put yourself out there and have those
conversations and allow those people a chance
to ask their questions, we can eventually get
him out of office, get more people on our side
and start to make those changes that we wanted
to see in MAGA. Like I really, I'm a huge fan
of, I just want everyone to do well and be happy
and safe and healthy. And obviously MAGA is not
the way, but how do we get there if we can't
get those people off of his side? We're with
Tori Hurst from the great state of Texas. I want
to thank you again for being here with us and
sharing your odyssey with us. I like to close
every episode with a positive affirmation and
say I'm rich and I left MAGA. Hi, I'm Tori and
I left MAGA. Tori, thank you so much for joining
us. Really appreciate you being here. Thank you.
Hey guys, if you like this video, make sure you
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Also at our site, we've got an ebook called My
MAGA Odyssey. And also we've got a guide for
friends and family for those of you out there
who have... who have loved ones and close ones
who are still in the thrall of MAGA. As always,
appreciate your support. Thanks so much for watching.