Ultra-MAGA

About

Ultra-MAGA is a term originally used by President Joe Biden in reference to a subset of "extreme" Republicans. Biden first used the term in a speech about economic growth and jobs on May 4th, 2022, and used it again in a speech on May 10th. The term "ultra-MAGA" went viral over the following days as many Republicans embraced it, making memes and merchandise using the catchphrase, similar to how they embraced Let's Go Brandon. It was allegedly decided that Biden would use the phrase after six months of research on how to target Republicans by the Center for American Progress Action Fund and adviser Anita Dunn.

Origin

On May 4th, 2022, President Joe Biden gave a speech on economic growth. During the speech (seen below), he talked about Senator Rick Scott's economic plan, saying, "Senator Rick Scott of Florida, a United States senator who is leading the Republican National Senatorial Campaign Committee, released what he calls the 'Ultra-MAGA Agenda.'"^[1] He then called the plan "extreme" and said it will "raise taxes on 75 million American families." On the same day, Biden tweeted^[3] using the phrase "ultra-MAGA" to reiterate the same point, gaining over 35,000 like and 11,500 retweets in two weeks.

On May 10th, 2022, Biden gave another speech about the economy. During the speech, Biden mentioned Rick Scott again and said "Americans have a choice right now between two paths," Biden's path that "attacks inflation and grows the economy by lowering costs for working families" or the ultra-MAGA path that will "raise taxes on working families, lower the incomes of American workers, threaten the sacred programs Americans count on like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and give break after break to big corporations and billionaires" (shown below).^[2] Reportedly, Biden used the term "ultra-MAGA" after six months of research on how to target Republicans.^[6]

Spread

Many Republicans and people with right-wing political beliefs embraced the term shortly after the speeches. The House GOP^[4] and Save American PAC^[5] began selling shirts with the phrase on them in early May 2022. Memes using the phrase became prevalent on sites including 4chan and Twitter over the following days, with the hashtag "#UltraMAGA" also spreading. On May 6th, Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene used the hashtag in a tweet,^[7] writing, "When it comes to Make America Great Again, I’m all in, and I can’t even understand anyone who is not," gaining over 50,000 likes in 10 days (shown below).

On May 11th, a day after Biden used the term in another speech, Twitter^[8] user @TyTheFisch posted a skit where he does a Trump impression and talks about it, gaining over 500 likes and 130 retweets in five days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References