President Donald Trump’s recent reference to Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, during a July 2025 energy summit in Pittsburgh, where he falsely claimed his uncle taught Kaczynski at MIT, has sparked speculation about parallels between the MAGA movement and themes in Kaczynski’s manifesto, Industrial Society and Its Future. While Trump’s anecdote was debunked—Kaczynski attended Harvard, not MIT, and Trump’s uncle died in 1985, before Kaczynski’s identity as the Unabomber was known—the mention resonates with certain ideological overlaps. Kaczynski’s manifesto rails against industrialization, technology, and centralized systems, arguing they erode personal freedom and alienate individuals from authentic, self-sufficient lives. Similarly, the MAGA movement often champions a return to traditional values, distrusts institutional elites, and critiques globalized systems—be they corporate, governmental, or technological—as threats to individual sovereignty and cultural heritage. This shared skepticism of modern societal structures, though expressed differently, suggests a rhetorical alignment that Trump’s comment may have inadvertently highlighted.
The MAGA movement’s rhetoric mirrors Kaczynski’s concerns about the dehumanizing effects of modern systems, though it diverges sharply in scope and execution. Kaczynski’s manifesto advocates for a radical, violent rejection of industrial society, envisioning a collapse to restore a primitive, autonomous existence. In contrast, MAGA rhetoric, while critical of urban elites, globalism, and technological overreach—such as AI or social media censorship—channels its energy into political activism, populism, and restoring perceived American greatness through economic nationalism and cultural conservatism. Both, however, tap into a sense of alienation, with MAGA supporters often expressing frustration over a society they see as disconnected from traditional work, family, and community values. Kaczynski’s warnings about technology creating “surrogate activities” that replace meaningful human endeavors find a loose echo in MAGA critiques of a culture obsessed with digital distractions and corporate agendas, even if the movement embraces technology for its own purposes, like social media mobilization on platforms like X.
Despite these parallels, the comparison is limited by fundamental differences in ideology and action. Kaczynski’s manifesto explicitly rejects both leftism and conservatism, dismissing political solutions as futile and advocating for a revolutionary dismantling of industrial society. The MAGA movement, by contrast, is deeply political, seeking reform through electoral power, policy changes, and judicial appointments, not violent revolution. Trump’s reference to Kaczynski, likely a rhetorical misstep, may have been an attempt to flex intellectual credentials or deflect from other controversies, but it risks drawing attention to these uneasy parallels. Critics on X have noted the oddity of Trump invoking a domestic terrorist, with some sarcastically questioning if it signals MAGA’s radicalization, while supporters dismiss it as a quirky anecdote. Ultimately, while both Kaczynski and MAGA critique aspects of modern society, the movement’s focus on political power and cultural restoration stands in stark contrast to Kaczynski’s apocalyptic, anti-civilizational vision, making any deeper alignment more rhetorical than substantive.