Everything is too expensive—so why is the president focused on Somali Americans?
Your cost of living is out of control but the administration is just attacking immigrants again... let's talk about it.
In my previous post, I wrote about MAGA's central organizing principle—the destruction of American civil rights to enable authoritarian governance. Today's post is inspired by a recent video of Trump that perfectly demonstrates how his movement scapegoats our neighbors to (1) distract from MAGA’s betrayal of the working class and (2) justify MAGA’s attacks on our civil rights. Here's the vid:
Donald Trump is floundering, but not for the reasons you may think. Since January, his administration has been working vehemently to deliver on a billionaire-first agenda that makes life more expensive and stressful for working class people. Measured against conservative political ideology, the first year of Trump's second term has been a resounding success. But measured against the expectations of Americans, it's mostly been a failure.
Every day more people are waking up to the reality that the influence of capital has infected our system of governance beyond recognition. Broadly speaking, our government hasn't really served working class people in decades—instead, it revolves around the demands of the wealthy elite (thanks for that, neoliberalism). And MAGA has dialed up the corruption to wild new levels.
Charismatic Trump has always been very good at convincing Americans that he cares about the plight of the working class. But in 2025, MAGA has total control of the government and yet… everything is getting worse. American life is becoming dramatically more expensive and more stressful as a result.
Meanwhile, billionaire wealth is through the roof, there are fresh attacks against the agency that protects Americans from being defrauded by the wealthy, and we might be headed toward war with Venezuela. Americans are seeing their friends and neighbors ripped from the streets in nightmarish ICE operations that erode our fundamental right to due process. And our president has declared that affordability is a "con job by the Democrats."
The American people are starting to turn on Trump—he knows this, and he's uncomfortable. His approval ratings are sinking lower, and recent elections reveal that the GOP is at risk of collapsing under the weight of its own success. In his panic, Trump is doing what he knows best (and what he thinks won him the 2024 presidential election)… whining and lying about immigrants... and blaming them for the problems that his own government is creating or making worse.
But marginalized immigrant communities simply aren't the people making life more difficult for Americans. They aren’t the wealthy CEO’s of exploitative corporations. They aren't the heads of private equity firms that starve out local businesses and drive up the cost of housing by buying up all the real estate. They don’t slash billionaire taxes or institute chaotic tariffs. The blame for all of those problems lies with the wealthy elite and their favorite politician, Trump.
Thinking back to the civil rights topic of my previous post, it’s important to note that Trump’s lashing out at Somali Americans also serves his goal of manufacturing consent for even more extreme domestic ICE operations. If MAGA can successfully normalize the violent, racist rhetoric coming out of the White House, they’ll use this new standard to justify more kidnappings, more surveillance, more violence, more fear. That's not good for anyone except the billionaire class eager to scapegoat our immigrant neighbors and loved ones. They desperately want you to focus on Somali Americans instead of the billionaire oligarchs who are robbing you blind.
Anything the Trump admin does to afflict Somali Americans, it will eventually do to you and your family the moment it's politically convenient. Best not to accept this level of violent, racist rhetoric from the White House—because unless you have a cool billion in the bank, you're not part of the club.
Trump says Somali Americans "do nothing but bitch." American fascists love projecting... after all, Trump and the MAGA movement do nothing but whine and complain about poor people and immigrants... all the while enriching themselves and making life harder for everyone else.
MAGA doesn't have our back. And we're better than the putrid racist shit being spewed by the president. Our neighbors aren't to blame for our pain... it's a class war, not a culture war. Time to wake up, friends... let's go left.