Since September 2022, as many as six in 10 Republicans have thought of themselves as MAGA Republicans, according to Economist/YouGov Polls that have asked since then, “Do you identify as a MAGA Republican?” That peak level of 60% MAGA came in March, and has slipped since then.
Between September 2022 and January 2024, less than half of Republicans said they identified with MAGA. A large share weren’t sure about their attachment to MAGA. Identification as MAGA has risen for most of 2024 and 2025, remaining mostly above 50% this year and reaching a peak of 60% in mid-March. But Republican identification as MAGA dropped again after that, including falling below 50% several times in recent weeks. In the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, it has gone up a bit. 53% of Republicans now describe themselves as MAGA Republicans, 35% do not, and 12% are unsure. Among the entire population of adult citizens, the share of MAGA supporters has never risen above 20%.
Who is more likely to be MAGA?
Republican men have consistently been more likely than women to identify as MAGA Republicans. Two-thirds (67%) of Republican men and 54% of Republican women identified as MAGA in mid-March. According to the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, among Republicans 59% of men and 45% of women identified as MAGA.
In Economist/YouGov polls conducted since Trump's January 20 inauguration, MAGA self-identification was higher among Republicans who are union members (60%), people who have served in the military (62%), those who are very conservative (73%), and those who follow what's going on in government and public affairs most of the time (63%).
How do MAGA Republicans think differently than non-MAGA Republicans?
The differences between Republicans who do and don't identify as MAGA are evident in evaluations of President Donald Trump, who is the MAGA leader. One week into Trump's second term, both MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans were near-unanimous in their approval of the president. Among MAGA identifiers, 97% strongly or somewhat approved of Trump's handling of the presidency while less than 1% disapproved. 90% of non-MAGA Republicans approved of the president while only 6% disapproved.
Approval of Trump among MAGA Republicans has changed little; the most recent poll found it to be 97%. But approval among non-MAGA Republicans is down 18 percentage points from January while disapproval is up 21 points. Approval among non-MAGA Republicans started slipping in March — just before Liberation Day and the announcement of new tariffs.
The gap between the two groups is even larger for strong approval of Trump's handling of the presidency: The share of MAGA Republicans who approve strongly is now 35 points higher than the share of non-MAGA Republicans who approve strongly.
Why are some non-MAGA Republicans souring on Trump?
One important factor may be their perception of the state of the U.S. economy. After Trump won the presidential election last November, Republicans' perception of the state of the economy changed — among both MAGA and non-MAGA identifiers. Before the election and Trump’s victory, large majorities of both groups saw the economy as getting worse. MAGA Republicans became far less pessimistic after the election, and especially after the inauguration: The share saying the economy was getting worse dropped below 10%. While MAGA Republicans are no longer quite as bullish as they were then, 58% believe the economy is getting better and only 10% say it is getting worse. Non-MAGA Republicans in January also were more positive about the economy than they had been before the election, but now only 31% say it is getting better and nearly as many, 26%, see things as getting worse.
One-quarter of Republicans — including similar proportions of MAGA and non-MAGA identifiers — now name inflation/prices as the country’s most important problem. But MAGA identifiers focus on immigration next, followed by jobs and the economy, with taxes and government spending third. The non-MAGA Republicans' No. 2 issue is jobs, No other issue was in double digits.
The latesEconomist/You Gov Poll found that more than 90% of MAGA Republicans say they approve of how Trump is handling jobs and immigration, and 87% approve of his handling of inflation; 87% also approve of his handling of foreign trade. Approval from non-MAGA Republicans is much lower on inflation, jobs and trade, but 86% of non-MAGA Republicans approve of his handling of immigration.
There are two large problem areas for Trump with non-MAGA Republicans: the economy and opinion about the president himself. MAGA Republicans are for the most part optimistic about their future: According to the most recent poll, 58% say the economy is getting better and 64% expect their household’s financial situation will be better in a year than it is today. Just 31% of non-MAGA Republicans are optimistic about the future economy and only 36% expect their own economic situation to improve. Two weeks ago, the Economist/YouGov Poll found that more than one-quarter of non-MAGA Republicans say they know someone who has lost their job because of cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Many non-MAGA Republicans don’t especially like Trump — which isn't the case among MAGA Republicans. Last week’s poll found that about one-quarter (27%) of non-MAGA Republicans had a very or somewhat unfavorable opinion of Trump, and two weeks ago only 23% say they liked him personally a lot — compared to 68% of MAGA Republicans.
— David Montgomery contributed to this article
Image: Getty (Pool / Pool)
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