For many people it’s all about the money

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Lerato Khumalo

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St. Clair rose through the ranks of the MAGA movement in the years following Trump’s first term, garnering millions of views with her posts on X, including one in which she called Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris “insufferable broads.” In another, she complained that migrants were flying in “premium seats” on her flight from Phoenix to New York. Her online popularity gave her access to the highest levels of conservative power; she was also invited to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. She wrote a children’s book called “Elephants Are Not Birds” that critics said discriminated against trans people and portrayed extremely conservative views on gender roles and families.

Her popularity on X, then still Twitter, brought her to the attention of the platform’s owner, Elon Musk. The two had a secret relationship that resulted in a son. Musk and St. Clair are now at odds and there was a dispute in court over custody.

After that, she took a break from her posts. She was disillusioned when she saw how her political allies talked about or treated women, she said, but she remained silent for fear that contradicting them would mean “ruining her whole life.” It was therefore difficult for her to leave. “It’s not just about your political beliefs, but also your social environment, your finances – everything is connected to MAGA,” said the self-confessed right-winger on TikTok. “With my Google search results, I couldn’t just quit and take a job at Starbucks or Pinterest.”

Now it is announcing “secrets from the MAGA movement,” such as members being told messages from the White House and Republican representatives in group chats, which they are then supposed to disseminate to the public. This also happened after the incident at the correspondents’ dinner in Washington, in which an armed man broke into the hotel where Donald Trump had already arrived. Many supporters then spread Trump’s narrative that a safe ballroom at the White House was now necessary using almost identical words.