The MAGA Movement’s New British Crush
IdeasThe MAGA Movement’s New British CrushRupert Lowe understands what the American right wants to hear.By Helen LewisIllustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Sources: Jeff Bottari / Getty; Oli Scarff / AFP / Getty.July 26, 2026, 8 AM ET ShareSave Americans have two stereotypes of Britain. The first is the cozy, parochial world portrayed in my country’s biggest cultural exports—the “soggy bottoms” of The Great British Baking Show, the boarding-school backdrop of Harry Potter, the aristocratic deference valorized by Downton Abbey. The second, now promoted by a zillion MAGA podcasts, is a postapocalyptic hellscape of sclerotic socialism, repressed speech, and rampaging Muslims.Rupert Lowe, the leader of the British far-right party Restore, has pulled off a neat trick.
- ▪IdeasThe MAGA Movement’s New British CrushRupert Lowe understands what the American right wants to hear.By Helen LewisIllustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Sources: Jeff Bottari / Getty; Oli Scarff / AFP / Getty.July 26, 2026, 8 AM ET
- ▪The first is the cozy, parochial world portrayed in my country’s biggest cultural exports—the “soggy bottoms” of The Great British Baking Show, the boarding-school backdrop of Harry Potter, the aristocratic deference valorized by Downton Ab
- ▪The second, now promoted by a zillion MAGA podcasts, is a postapocalyptic hellscape of sclerotic socialism, repressed speech, and rampaging Muslims.Rupert Lowe, the leader of the British far-right party Restore, has pulled off a neat trick.
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IdeasThe MAGA Movement’s New British CrushRupert Lowe understands what the American right wants to hear.By Helen LewisIllustration by Paul Spella / The Atlantic; Sources: Jeff Bottari / Getty; Oli Scarff / AFP / Getty.July 26, 2026, 8 AM ET ShareSave Americans have two stereotypes of Britain. The first is the cozy, parochial world portrayed in my country’s biggest cultural exports—the “soggy bottoms” of The Great British Baking Show, the boarding-school backdrop of Harry Potter, the aristocratic deference valorized by Downton Abbey. The second, now promoted by a zillion MAGA podcasts, is a postapocalyptic hellscape of sclerotic socialism, repressed speech, and rampaging Muslims.Rupert Lowe, the leader of the British far-right party Restore, has pulled off a neat trick.
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