‘Nixxonmaxxing’ and Trump, who has lowered standards on the right

The internet remains a remarkable platform, despite its role in eroding democratic processes. In recent months, ‘Looksmaxxing’ has gained significant traction—an online trend driven primarily by men that involves pushing oneself to the absolute limit to enhance one’s physical appearance according to highly specific standards. As with many phenomena originating in the United States, it has escalated to extremes, including practices such as self-administered jaw hammering to create a more angular profile. As trends beget other trends, the term ‘maxxing’—borrowed from the world of video games, where it means maximizing statistics—is now being applied to a myriad of activities and lifestyles: there’s ‘sleepmaxxing’ (sleep), ‘solomaxxing’ (solitude), ‘proteinmaxxing’ (maximising protein intake), ‘hobbitmaxxing’ (one for Fratelli d’Italia to take note of), etc. But the most interesting of all is ‘Nixonmaxxing’.

In the conservative world of TikTok—the future electorate—a competition has begun, part ironic, part heartfelt and certainly nostalgic, centred on the re-evaluation of a president, Richard M. Nixon, who for decades was the symbol of failure, of shifty greyness and of political paranoia. Mentioning Nixon inevitably conjures images of Watergate and of Woodward and Bernstein (i.e. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman). For many years, Nixon was, in the public imagination, precisely what he denied being: a ‘crook’, a swindler. This perception persists in popular culture, as seen in series such as Futurama, in which he returns in the year 3000 by attaching his head to a robot in order to take control of the Earth. Now, however, his Californian Quaker face appears in music videos featuring tracks by Biggie and Drake, girls are sporting bum bags embroidered in glitter with ‘Pretty Girls for Nixon’, and the lads are wearing caps bearing the former POTUS’s Hitchcock-esque profile.

It may be that Trump, the world-destroyer, has lowered the bar – making George W. Bush look like a likeable uncle who paints portraits of his dogs in the barn – but Gen Z’s obsession with the 27th president is also based on a rediscovery of his policies. Nixon, with the exception of Massachusetts, managed to win every state, securing the support in 1971 of that ‘silent majority’ – that is, the moderates – as a staunchly centrist politician. He was a supporter of Israel during the Yom Kippur War, and then shook hands with Mao, visited China in 1972, thereby removing it from Soviet influence, withdrew troops from Vietnam, and sent astronauts to the moon.

This ‘Nixon-mania’ is an aesthetic, a vibe, which appeals to young people who feel they are missing out on something they have never known: an analogue era of grid-patterned ties, formal ceremonies and the absence of Russian bots. At the same time, however, they perceive in that introverted outsider from a working-class family—the antithesis of a Kennedy—a highly underrated politician, whose history and achievements have been overshadowed by a scandal that, in today’s post-truth era of “Make America Great Again,” would amount to mere trifles likely joked about by progressive late-night comedians—certainly not grounds for resignation.

The Nixon Foundation is fuelling this trend by posting videos aimed at attracting very young people who aren’t exactly keen on Islamic-Brooklyn-style neo-socialism, presenting an anti-establishment Nixon, torn apart by the press and the deep state. Some are already seeking to capitalize on this trend for their own ends ahead of 2028: the chameleon-like JD Vance. Speaking at an event at the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Vance said that “his historical legacy is experiencing a sort of renaissance. And I think it’s well deserved”. Like Vance, Nixon came from a family with no political connections; he too had been Vice-President before becoming President, and both had a brief stint in Congress before reaching the White House. Vance is capitalising on these similarities by comparing himself to Nixon, but it is unlikely he will manage to appeal to American moderates in the same way – if they even exist anymore.