Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not claim that MAGA represents America before civil, gay, and women's rights

Context

An X (formerly Twitter) user has shared a screenshot of a tweet allegedly from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (archived here). It claimed that "MAGA," an acronym for Make America Great Again, stands for "America before civil rights, gay rights, and women's rights." The post gained over 45,000 views in less than a day. Many users supported the message, stating it made them "love MAGA even more." 

However, the screenshot was altered, and the quote was edited to misrepresent the politician.

In fact

RFK Jr. is an American politician, lawyer, anti-vaccine activist, and conspiracy theorist. Logically Facts has previously debunked false claims he has made, such as those about children's vaccine safety. In 2024, after leaving the Democratic primary, Kennedy Jr. initially ran as an independent candidate for the U.S. presidency. However, in a surprising turn of events, he recently dropped out of the race and endorsed former President and current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The decision was unexpected, especially given his previous conflicts with Trump and his criticism about Trump's time in office.

A day after endorsing Trump on August 24, RFK Jr. tweeted about the meaning of MAGA in a statement that has since been characterized as an attempt to rebrand the movement. Some believe it was an effort to convince his voters to back the Republicans. However, regardless of his intentions, the now-viral tweet misrepresented his message, as parts of it were edited out from a screenshot.

In the original post, RFK Jr. began his explanation of MAGA (archived here) by stating, "The phrase has troubled liberals who think it is a call for a return to an America before civil rights, gay rights, and women's rights." In the altered version, the part of the sentence linking the list of rights to the concerns of liberals was removed, along with the rest of the tweet. In the original tweet, RFK Jr. described his interpretation of the message behind the abbreviation, which has since been embraced by Donald Trump, who repopularised the phrase MAGA prior to his first presidential term, making it central to his campaign.

A screenshot of Robert F. Kennedy Jr's original Tweet.

RFK Jr. explains in his post how MAGA "recalls a nation brimming with vitality, with a can-do spirit, with hope and a belief in itself. It was an America that was beginning to confront its darker shadows, could acknowledge the injustice in its past and present, yet at the same time could celebrate its successes." He goes on to praise the nation for its past prosperity, including "the world's most vibrant middle class," and for leading the world in innovation, productivity, and technology. He ends the post by stating that as a result of talking to many Trump supporters, including his inner circle and "the man himself," he believes this is the America the republicans want to restore. Therefore, RFK Jr. did not claim that "MAGA" stands for "America before civil rights, gay rights, and women's rights."

The Verdict

The screenshot of RFK Jr's tweet claiming "MAGA" stands for "America before civil rights, gay rights, and women's rights" has been altered. The beginning of the sentence has been removed, along with the rest of his explanation. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.