For starters I wasn't 100% on board with everything Republicans stood for notably I wasn't into the evangelical religious-wing of the Republican party and I even then considered myself to be pro-choice. I actually was originally a Democrat but just kind of born into it but during Obama's term I got into reading libertarian leaning content and thought it was "logical"/"efficient" (actually I was naive at the time) and later got influenced by right-wing communities like TheDonald where I again being naive found the conspiracy theories compelling. I didn't like Trump before he got elected but "warmed up to him" meaning got brainwashed by said online communities. Sometimes though I would get this weird feeling about Trump like felt kind of uneasy about him and I didn't know why but in public I would defend him.
In terms of moving away from this I believe that it was a combination of sudden bursts followed by more gradual moving away.
The first thing is if you can find a belief that's stronger than whatever MAGA has you might be able to help move people away from MAGA. My first thing that I remember really moving me away from MAGA was Trump's handling of COVID-19, not only Trump but also the MAGA community. They said masks didn't work and not to get the vaccine once available. I was really into anti-quack stuff and skepticism and considered myself to really be into STEM. So I didn't like how they were denying this.
The next thing as after the election I didn't believe the stuff about it being "rigged", I would sometimes parrot it among other MAGAs but I didn't believe in my heart. This culminated into J6 which I really didn't agree with.
Then after Biden become president I for a little while disengaged from politics, no longer read those right-wing websites and basically just focused on improving my life. During the way I talked to a lots of different people and I really believe this made a huge impact for making me less MAGA.
Then I did start reading more news but it was more neutral and also I did sometimes despite not having an account read Reddit's r/politics and I think the comments did actually kind of influence me. I'll admit psychologically speaking the comments sections can have a lot of influence on people because it feels like a lot of people support something. But in this case I guess it was a good thing. I still admit to this day I guess I'm kind of vulnerable to "comments sections" like I can almost feel the sway or influence when I read them. I guess this go back to how humans a long time ago were tribal. It a little bit reminds me of this article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/18/change-mind-evidence-arguing-social-relationships I read earlier.
I started to admit that I appreciated Biden's leadership and especially 2023 and even more 2024 were great years for me and I would do anything to go back to that.
By 2024 I would say I was fully a Democrat and after the election it was a huge shock, I actually cried that Harris didn't win. I remember thinking if I could go back in time 5 years my 2019 self would never believe this but it's happening. I was reading about how Trump was going to install loyalists who are loyal to him instead of the country and it made me feel terrified and along the way caused me to learn more about politics and now I'm hard against everything Trump is doing. Seeing the evil up close helps me understand it. Although currently kind of rare some people who are Trump's harshest critics used to be supporters.
Another thing is along the way seeing how life is more complex and it's not always a matter of someone takes foodstamps because they don't want to work but sometimes they work really hard but life is complex. Getting out more can be a good MAGA antidote.
So basically what it was, was:
Improving my life
Talking to more people, being less socially isolated
Reading more reputable news (I now compare Fox News and similar things to be like a drug addition almost, taking it away can return people to normal, see the documentary Brainwashing of My Dad)
Admittedly influence from the other side but I'm happy I'm here
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