“They know”: Left-wing TikTok adapts the “extinction burst” theory to explain right-wing male behavior

The "extinction burst" theory is spreading on left-wing TikTok as an explanation for the increase in violent rhetoric and acts from the right. In psychology, this term describes the temporary rise in the frequency and intensity of a behavior when the typical reward for said behavior stops coming.

This "burst" in activity is often accompanied by anger, outrage, and even full-on tantrums.

So, is MAGA going through an extinction burst?

Over the past several months, liberals and leftists on TikTok have been posting videos linking the vitriol and violence from the MAGA movement to the extinction burst concept. Popular in applied behavioral analysis (ABA)—a highly criticized therapy often enacted upon autistic children—they've adapted the idea to explain why fans of President Donald Trump are like that.

In 2024, TikToker and political organizer Maddy Clifford (@madlines) compared MAGA's acting out to toddler tantrums.

"Babies, in order to get their needs met, they cry," she explained. "So an important stage in human development is actually when toddlers have temper tantrums."

"The reinforcement of that behavior needs to end, and so there might be a period in which there's tantrums ... before the child starts to break that pattern."

@madlines Extinction Burst ???? #anticapitalism #project2025 #psychologyfacts ♬ original sound - Maddy Clifford

Basically, toddlers go through a stage in which they become outraged to find that crying no longer gets them what they want. They react by crying harder, screaming, and lashing out for a time until they finally must accept that this behavior will not achieve results and they have to try something else, like asking nicely.

In September 2025, @denta5857 explained how MAGA could be going through something similar now that simply existing as straight, cisgender white Christians doesn't provide the rewards it used to. He brings it all the way back to former President Barack Obama's election in 2008.

"Sarah Palin, the Tea Party movement, the birther movement, and ultimately MAGA is a 10-year tsunami of rage in the face of inevitable extinction," he said. "This is why Republicans are so angry. They know! They know Trump winning can't stop it and they know Trump in office can't stop it."

He continued, "They can feel the inevitable extinction of their terrible beliefs."

The left finds hope in right-wing rage

While the right loves to claim that the political violence is coming from the other side, the data doesn't lie. Conservatives have always invested in maintaining the status quo, resisting the progress and change for which the left advocates. As things inevitably change, political violence on the right has consistently far outpaced that from the left.

Recent decades have seen bursts of change, with the first Black U.S. president and leaps forward in terms of rights and recognition for groups like the LGBTQ+ community.

If we can explain the rhetoric from the Trump camp as an extinction burst, then better times must be ahead.

@dannylime @trashpanduhs 7/18/2025 Check out @Ohh that's RICH he has a wealth of knowledge that we all could use. #fyp #america #politicstiktok #democrat #republican #liberal #conservative #donaldtrump ♬ original sound - Danny Lime ????‍????

"Ultimately, when these people stand up, when they get loud, when they show up in public spaces, they have some support, but you realize—and they realize—they are vastly outnumbered," said @dannylime in July.

"The battle to turn this country into a purely European, Christian, evangelical, right-wing ethnostate was lost a long time ago."

The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s newsletter here.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post “They know”: Left-wing TikTok adapts the “extinction burst” theory to explain right-wing male behavior appeared first on The Daily Dot.