Since his 2016 presidential campaign, the acronym MAGA has been associated with President Donald Trump.
The letters stand for "Make America Great Again" based on the concept that the United States needed Trump to restore it to some former glory.
Amongst his supporters the phrase—and the merchandise—was a hit.
Red hats filled massive arenas, if you believe the hype.
Giphy
But as his presidency went on, someone pointed out that if "America" still needed to be made great, didn't that mean Trump's presidency was a failure?
A new just as catchy slogan and acronym were needed. The first suggestion was "Promises Made, Promise Kept."
But that just invited ridicule over every campaign promise made and not kept, like building a wall paid for by Mexico and locking up former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Plus PMPK?
A LITTLE too similar to pumpkin...
So someone came up with the riff off MAGA of "Keep America Great" thereby declaring the Trump presidency successful and KAG was so easy to say and spell and chant...
There's only one small problem that hardcore Trekkies (me, people like me) recognized right away and it involved these guys.
Look up KAG.org online and you'll find an organization that far predates keeping Trump's America great.
KAG.org
Klingons!
Klingons as far as the eye can see in the Klingon Assault Group boasting 30 YEARS of existence.
They're sort of the Trekkie version of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers, only KAG was here first. 501st Legion was founded in 1997; KAG in 1989.
In your FACE Star Wars!
Trekkies for the win!
Actually, I love them both so calm down Klingons.
Anyhoo...
As Trump formally announced his 2020 presidential run, his campaign began to push KAG hard to stop the MAGA digs—like, wasn't he going to MAGA when elected in 2016—in their tracks. Plus there's the matter of a few domestic terrorists who embraced the concept and merchandise and rhetoric....
Suddenly MAGA profiles on Twitter were swapping their acronym to KAG and that inside Trekkie joke started going mainstream.
And while the folks at the original KAG have yet to file a formal protest, it doesn't look like the MAGA-KAG crowd is going to quite jive with the Klingon Assault Group's worldview.
Anyway, as the Klingons and the Trekkies say:
"qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep!"
The book How to Speak Klingon: Essential Phrases for the Intergalactic Traveler is available here.
--------
Listen to the first episode of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!', where we explore the racially charged videos that have taken the internet by storm.
Be sure to subscribe here and never miss an episode.
