'Make Yourself Great Again!' Politico On How Trump is Inspiring a Movement

On a morning in March, a 30-year-old computer technician named Nathan was tapping at the keyboard in his Pittsburgh home when he had a breakthrough with his support group. He wasn't in rehab. And this wasn't exactly AA. Nathan told me that for years, he's fought alcoholism and an addiction to crystal meth, without much success--until he discovered the online self-help network that changed his life, a Donald Trump-themed discussion forum on the website Reddit. It was there that, two months ago, after weeks of reading messages of self-improvement and positive visualization, Nathan declared he had been saved, pecking out a message of hope and encouragement to his group under the title: "Quitting Drugs Because of Trump."

"Trump has inspired me," he wrote. "I'm getting sober and doing my bit to Make America Great Again. Thank you Donald!"

Nathan, who did not want his last name to be used for this story, is one of a substantial number of young men tapping into a growing informal online network: A dedicated denomination of self-improvement, built on the "teachings" of one Donald J. Trump. From his books, public statements, and general attitude toward the world, they've extracted a highly motivating philosophy of positive thinking and the virtues of self-love and brazening things out, as real men do. Their numbers are unknown, but the trend exists in the form of dozens of their posts flourishing online, bouncing across Trump discussion threads and Twitter and the right-wing blogosphere, peppered with buzzwords and moments of epiphany. "Donald J. Trump has already won, and changed my life," declares one poster. "How Donald inspired me to be a great American once again" proclaims another. And many more: "Trump inspired me to change my life." "Story of how Donald Trump changed my life around." "Donald trumps campaign has changed me." "Trump saved my life!" "Hey Brigadiers, stop wasting your time and learn what this is. Make Yourself Great Again!"

In a phone conversation, Nathan told me that he had been able to turn his life around thanks to Trump's "high energy" persona, his refusal to give in or be pushed around--and his declared abstinence from alcohol, tobacco or drugs. "I've had an ongoing fight to get off drugs, but this is the most successful I've ever been," he said. "I was given the strength and the resolve of spirit to not buy drugs again." He took a deep breath. "Through the Trump campaign."

When Nathan posted his message to his Trump discussion thread last month, he was smothered by a wave of positive responses, each a variation on a familiar theme. "I'm also quitting booze for many reasons, Trump being one of them," commented one user. Wrote another: "It might sound lame, but trying to be more like Donald has led to positive changes in my life." A commenter described his own years-long drug habit, chiming in, "After reading 2 of Trump's books I decided it's time to quit." And then, about two-thirds down, the prevailing leitmotif appeared:

"I just tell myself 'it's time to make myself great again.'"

In gargantuan, all-capital letters: "MYGA!"