Far-right extremism dominates the GOP. It didn’t start — and won’t end — with Trump /1
..one of the two great political parties in the United States has been transformed top to bottom into a vehicle for far-right extremism.
washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/1…
Far Right GOP /2
..an astonishing 30 percent of Republicans believe that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence” to save the country.
Far Right GOP /3
.. the culmination of three decades of dynamic interaction among white supremacists, far-right organizations and populists within the Republican Party..
The Far Right GOP /4
.. With a sluggish economy, unemployment hovering above 7 % &significant job losses in the manufacturing sector, Buchanan was able to portray cultural liberalism, immigration and Bush’s embrace of free trade as an attack on “Middle America” from all sides.
Far Right GOP /5
.. [Buchanan] campaign co-chair Larry Pratt had appeared with members of the Aryan Nation at a white-supremacist Christian Identity meeting, and another co-chair had attended a banquet honoring people convicted of shooting abortion providers.
Far Right GOP /6
…While the symbols of [David]Duke’s past white supremacy could not be openly embraced, they nevertheless spoke to many White voters..
Far Right GOP /7
Tea partyers..took up the racial sentiments embedded in the xenophobia developing since the Buchanan campaigns, the Islamophobia sparked in the wake of 9/11 and the racism and the anti-Blackness summoned forth in reaction to the election of Barack Obama.
Far Right GOP /8
But far-right extremism did not work its way to the heart of the Republican Party until the nomination and 2016 election of Trump.
Far Right GOP /9
Richard Spencer later said: “There is no question that Charlottesville wouldn’t have occurred without Trump. It really was because of his campaign and this new potential for a nationalist candidate who was resonating with the public in a very intense way.”
Far Right GOP /10
.. organized into groups like Oath Keepers, Three Percenters,Proud Boys..but many more had no affiliation,simply seeing themselves as defenders of their communities..in this context that..Kyle Rittenhouse received accolades from..nat’l Republican officials
Far Right GOP /11
.. to overcome settled arrangements of power. That moment has arrived as the Republican Party, from national leadership to voters, has come to embrace violent authoritarianism.
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