Leaving MAGA Behind (w/ Pedro L. Gonzalez)

When people break with MAGA, most of them walk away and don't look back, whether out of shame or fear or both. So it's a rare thing to talk with someone willing to describe publicly why they joined the Trump movement, what life was like on the inside, and the reasons they left — but it's just such a conversation we have for you today, with writer and former New Right firebrand Pedro L. Gonzalez. Enjoy.

Sources:

Pedro L. Gonzalez, "The Right Lost the Culture War, and America (readcontra.com/p/the-right-lost-the-culture-wa…)," Contra, Feb 16, 2026

— "Trump Demands the Worst of Us (readcontra.com/p/trump-demands-the-worst-of-us)," Contra, Feb 8, 2026

— "Why the New Right Can’t Quit Conspiracy Theories (readcontra.com/p/why-the-new-right-cant-quit-c…)," Contra, Dec 18, 2025

— "Welcome to Hell (readcontra.com/p/welcome-to-hell)," Contra, Dec 10, 2025

— "Gen Z’s Flight From Trump (readcontra.com/p/gen-zs-flight-from-trump)," Contra, July 24, 2025

James Burnham, The Machiavellians (bookshop.org/p/books/the-machiavellians-defend…), (1943)

Sam Francis, Beautiful Losers (amazon.com/Beautiful-Losers-Failure-American-C…), (1993)

Michael Anton, "The Flight 93 Election (claremontreviewofbooks.com/digital/the-flight-…)," Claremont Review of Books, Sept 5, 2017.

Matthew Boyle, "Rising Conservative Influencer Pedro Gonzalez Regularly Espoused Racist and Anti-Semitic Sentiments in Private Messages (breitbart.com/politics/2023/06/27/exclusive-ri…)," Breitbart, June 27, 2023

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