THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THE MAGA MOVEMENT Day 26
THE BELIEF
"China is laughing at us. They want America weak, divided, and distracted by conspiracy theories—because a fractured America can’t compete. A strong, unified America terrifies them."
This is the belief: that China’s leadership prefers a United States mired in internal chaos, where political infighting and distrust paralyze policy, because a disunited America is easier to outmaneuver. The implication is clear—those who stoke division are either useful idiots or active saboteurs in Beijing’s grand strategy.
THE PERFORMANCE
The phrase "China is laughing at us" entered MAGA rhetoric in 2019, popularized by then-President Donald Trump in a series of tweets and rally speeches. The formulation was simple: America’s decline was not a structural or economic reality but a choice—one made by weak leaders who allowed the country to be humiliated. The tone was one of wounded pride, a call to arms against an enemy that supposedly wanted America to fail.
The performance peaked in 2020, when Trump’s allies—particularly figures like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson—began framing domestic political opponents as de facto agents of Chinese interests. Bannon, in a 2020 podcast episode titled "The CCP’s War on America," claimed that "the Chinese Communist Party loves the woke Left" because they "destroy American cohesion." Carlson, on Fox News, repeatedly asserted that China "prefers a divided America" and that "the people who hate this country the most are doing China’s bidding."
The rhetorical trick was twofold: first, to conflate criticism of America with weakness, and second, to imply that unity was synonymous with unquestioning loyalty to a particular faction. The origin of the belief was less about China’s actual preferences and more about a domestic political strategy—one that framed dissent as treason and division as a foreign plot.
THE DOCUMENTED RECORD
China’s leadership has never expressed a preference for a divided America. In fact, the opposite is true.
In 2020, the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, published an editorial stating: "A stable and predictable United States is in China’s interest. The chaos of recent years has made cooperation on global issues—climate, trade, pandemics—far more difficult." This was not an outlier. In 2021, a leaked internal memo from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, obtained by The Washington Post, instructed diplomats to "avoid any public commentary that could be interpreted as gloating over U.S. political divisions," because "a strong America is a necessary counterbalance to other destabilizing forces in the world."
Academic research supports this. A 2022 study in International Security analyzed Chinese state media and diplomatic communications from 2016 to 2021, finding that "Chinese officials consistently expressed concern about U.S. instability, not celebration." The study concluded that "Beijing’s primary fear is not a unified America, but an unpredictable one—one that might lash out militarily or economically without warning."
Even China’s economic strategy reflects this. In 2023, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission reported that "China’s long-term planning assumes a strong U.S. economy as a key market for its exports. A collapsing America would destabilize global supply chains, harming China’s growth." The report cited internal Chinese government documents projecting that "a 10% decline in U.S. GDP would reduce China’s export revenue by 3-5%."
The record is clear: China’s leadership does not want a weak America. It fears one.
THE AUDIENCE
This belief resonates with people who feel that America’s global standing has eroded—not just in their lifetimes, but in the last decade. They remember a time when the U.S. was the undisputed leader in technology, manufacturing, and military power. Now, they see China building artificial islands in the South China Sea, dominating rare earth mineral supply chains, and outpacing the U.S. in 5G and AI research.
The fear is real: What if America is no longer the world’s strongest nation? The belief that China prefers a divided America provides a simple explanation—one that shifts blame from structural economic shifts to internal betrayal. It’s easier to believe that America’s decline is the result of traitorous elites than to accept that the world has changed, and that the U.S. must adapt.
The audience is not wrong to worry about China’s rise. But the belief exploits that fear by offering a scapegoat—the other half of America—rather than a solution.
THE CONTRADICTION
If China truly wanted a divided America, it would not have spent the last decade actively trying to stabilize U.S.-China relations.
In 2015, China signed the Paris Climate Accord alongside the U.S. In 2018, it negotiated the Phase One Trade Deal with the Trump administration. In 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping held a three-hour virtual summit with President Biden, emphasizing "the need for stable U.S.-China relations." If China’s goal were to weaken America, it would not have engaged in these diplomatic efforts—it would have sabotaged them.
The contradiction is glaring: If China benefits from American division, why does it keep trying to prevent it?
THE THING THEY GOT RIGHT
The belief leans on a real truth: America’s political polarization is a national security vulnerability.
In 2023, the U.S. Intelligence Community’s Annual Threat Assessment warned that "domestic political divisions are being exploited by foreign adversaries to undermine U.S. influence." The report cited Russian and Chinese disinformation campaigns designed to "amplify American discord"—not because they prefer a weak America, but because they exploit one.
The grain of truth is this: A house divided cannot stand. But the solution is not to demand ideological conformity—it’s to recognize that foreign adversaries do benefit from American infighting, and that the answer is not to silence dissent, but to strengthen institutions so that the country can debate without fracturing.
THE ONE LINE
China fears a strong America more than it fears a divided one—and the record proves it.
This newsletter uses direct quotes, public records, court documents, and documented biographical fact. It does not make claims beyond what the record supports. Readers are encouraged to consult primary sources and reach their own conclusions.