Trump: the politics of Perverse Camp – how Camp culture is utilised for political ends

This article adopts a critical theory lens to explore how Camp culture, traditionally associated with subversion, exaggeration and playfulness, is mobilised within the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and Trump’s political performance. Drawing upon Susan Sontag’s seminal work, Notes on ‘Camp’ , it examines the paradoxical transformation of Camp sensibilities into a political tool, one that masks and facilitates authoritarian tendencies through spectacle, irony and excess. The article argues that the MAGA movement represents a unique form of what I term Perverse Camp, where enjoyment is weaponised and transgression operates as a gateway to more sinister ideological aims. This piece contributes to current conversations on political culture, libidinal economies and the aesthetics of contemporary authoritarianism, offering a fresh perspective on the psychosocial dynamics underpinning right-wing populism in the digital age.