Deaths at the hands of federal immigration enforcement agents.
Skyrocketing gas prices.
The slashing of federal jobs.
A “war of choice in Iran.”
Former loyal supporters of President Donald Trump and adherents to his Make America Great Again movement recently chose to hang up their red hats for these exact reasons, said Rich Logis, whose Leaving MAGA nonprofit and support community is growing, bringing in “record-high” fundraising and seeing “more who are having doubts than ever before.”
“Right now, in MAGA, one of the reasons I think there are more people who are having doubts and are confused and are questioning their belief system is because the president has very clearly not kept a lot of his promises,” Logis told Raw Story.
“There's still a lot of fealty to Trump within the MAGA community, but I think most people in MAGA have a red line, and when that line of demarcation is reached, when there's one lie too many, when there's one betrayal too many, it makes them start to wonder if Trump is lying about one issue, is he lying about other issues?”
“One Betrayal Too Many: Why I Left MAGA” is the title of Logis’s new memoir that details his journey from a MAGA podcaster, fundraiser and pundit to the founder of the nonprofit who was featured at the 2024 Democratic National Convention voicing his support of Trump’s opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Il), who became a vocal critic of Trump and also endorsed Harris at the DNC, wrote the foreword to the book.
At the convention, Logis shared the message that “Trump's toxic superpower is lying,” which Logis said holds true today.
After Trump campaigned on lowering costs, gas prices now average more than $4 per gallon and are expected to stay high into 2027. Americans are lamenting an affordability crisis, with as many as seven in 10 blaming Trump’s tariffs policies for high prices in a recent poll.
Trump pledged to not fight "endless wars” but since taking office has engaged in military conflicts across the world — from Venezuela to Iran.
“Many in MAGA, deep down, know that Trump is a dishonest person, and I think deep down, they know that something is amiss in the country,” Logis said.
“Many in MAGA are looking around, and they might be telling themselves that everything is OK, but I think that that's more of a denial response.”
'Long haul'
Logis wrote the book to “humanize the odyssey and the journey that I went on, and show people in MAGA that it is, in fact, possible to leave and that we don't have to keep living this life based on lies and falsehoods and conspiracy theories.”
Leaving MAGA’s most recent outreach effort is in the form of billboards. The group is investing about $20,000 to display signs targeted at those facing doubts about MAGA with messages such as:
“Find your new community”
“You are not alone.”
“Welcome home.”
The first billboard will go up in Austin on April 15. Others will appear in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Des Moines, Iowa; and Palm Beach, Florida, the setting of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home where Democrats sent the president a “powerful message” when the state-level House seat in the district flipped blue last month.
“Our visibility and our footprint continues to grow, and we are committed for the long haul in doing this,” Logis said.
After Leaving MAGA became a tax-exempt nonprofit in August 2024, it reported raising about $34,000 that year.
Last year, the group raised about $110,000 and has brought in $100,000 year-to-date for 2026, Logis said.
‘Addicted to rage’
In his book, Logis shared stories of his time in MAGA, from attending a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago to writing call scripts for the Trump campaign and reveling in compliments for his work writing for and speaking on pro-MAGA media platforms.
“It was intoxicating to be in a community of like-minded people where in that community you feel very seen and heard,” Logis said.
“MAGA was exhilarating and enthralling, until it wasn't, and when I left, I came to realize that I had essentially been addicted to rage.”
Logis compared his journey out of MAGA to pulling “a brick out of the wall,” with the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead, being the "final straw.”
“You pull enough bricks out, and then eventually the wall falls down and collapses,” he said.
Leaving MAGA has collected more than two dozen testimonials from others who have stopped supporting Trump — some of whom were featured in the book.
Members of the Leaving MAGA community include people who have embraced Christian nationalism, became swept up in conspiracies, lost friends and marriages and committed crimes in Trump’s name.
But Logis said there are so many more who have "quietly left" with "a lot of quiet quitting happening.”
“There are many in the MAGA community who are privately having doubts, and they're wondering if this is a movement that they can continue to support,” he said.
Some MAGA community members are experiencing “cognitive dissonance” when their beliefs conflict with the “rhetoric of the president,” Logis said.
While Logis said MAGA will continue even after Trump leaves office, the MAGA movement continues to weaken and presents an opportunity to reach people before they gravitate toward “the next iteration of right-wing politics.”
After spending years supporting Trump, Logis has come to view MAGA as “an extremist group because adherents are encouraged to dehumanize, vilify and demonize those with whom we disagree.”
Each day Logis now posts on social media “‘today's a stellar day to leave MAGA’ because it is possible to walk away from the extremism and walk away from an identity that's shaped by lies.”
