Rich Logis was so into the Donald Trump fandom that he treated his fellow acolytes not only like a second family, but above his real one.
Caught in the MAGA vortex when Trump’s first campaign began in 2015, he was afraid and viewed Hillary Clinton as an “existential threat.”
Instead, he saw Trump as a disruptive force who would “drain the swamp” and “throw a flamethrower into the system,” and didn’t care about his nasty antics.
“I joined MAGA because I have always been suspicious of our two-party system and saw Trump – with no military or government experience – as an ideal candidate for this moment in our history,” he said.
“It made me feel like I was part of something important: a movement trying to save American democracy.”
Rich Logis was so into the Donald Trump fandom that he treated his fellow acolytes not only like a second family, but he also neglected his wife and two children for them.
He saw Trump as a disruptive force who would “drain the swamp” and “throw a flamethrower into the system,” and he didn’t care about his nasty antics.
Logis, 47, volunteered for the campaign in his home county of Broward, central Florida, and felt vindicated when Trump emerged victorious.
From there, he was drawn further and further into the fanatical community that is Trump’s staunchest supporters.
Logis neglected his wife and two children to devote every free moment he had to the MAGA movement, writing venom-filled posts and columns on social media for far-right outlets and meeting with like-minded voters.
“My second MAGA family, as ashamed as I am to admit it, often took priority over my royal blood family,” he told the orlando sentinel.
‘I was very afraid, I listened to that fear and that’s how I really got carried away with the whole MAGA movement and community.
‘We were the real Americans. Those who were against us were the fake Americans.
Logis is now “embarrassed and embarrassed” by the way he frequently “dehumanized” Trump’s opponents, even calling Democrats “malignant cancer cells seeking to overtake healthy cells.”
Logis neglected his wife and children to devote every free moment he had to the MAGA movement, writing venomous social media posts and columns for far-right outlets and meeting with like-minded voters.
He finally began to have second thoughts when hundreds of his fellow fanatics stormed the Capitol in a failed effort to stop Joe Biden’s election victory from being certified.
These grew during the pandemic when Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whom Trump endorsed, implemented policies that led to more Covid deaths in 2021.
He started reading other sources and realized there were a lot of things he hadn’t been told within the MAGA bubble.
“I came to understand that MAGA is supported by a series of myths that are intended to create perpetual feelings of despair and panic,” he said.
He finally resigned very publicly on August 30, 2022, but the problem was what came next.
Logis had alienated most of his friends and family with his hardcore views and lost the new ones he gained by walking away from MAGA.
‘Leaving MAGA was a tumultuous and tumultuous process for me. “It may be one of the most difficult endeavors you will undertake,” he said.
Logis (pictured in an old pro-Trump rant) is now “embarrassed and embarrassed” by the way he frequently “dehumanized” Trump’s opponents, even calling Democrats “malignant cancer cells seeking to outcompete cells.” healthy.”
Logis warned those who dislike Trump and his supporters not to speak too harshly about them, as that made them more likely to stick together and fear leaving.
He explained that the most engaged followers had been “completely emotionally connected” to that community for years and it was difficult to walk away.
Logis warned those who don’t like Trump and his supporters not to speak too harshly about them, as that made them more likely to stick together and fear leaving.
‘If you refer to Trump voters as cultists and say they’re Nazis and they’re racists and they’re misogynists and they’re homophobic and Islamophobic… you’re pushing them close,’ he said.
“You’re giving them reasons to stay.”
Logis is trying to ease the transition by starting the Leaving MAGA support group to offer a “safe, non-judgmental alternative community.”
“Succumbing to these predatory myths does not mean that one is unintelligent, weak, or lacking good character and morals,” he wrote on the group’s website.
‘I have a bachelor’s degree; I have been a working professional my entire life; I am a family man; and I consider myself a relatively honest and intelligent person. I think the same about you.’