Thread by @BrynnTannehill

Last weekend, McKay Coppins of The Atlantic wrote a piece urging everyone to go see a Trump rally to see what he and his most ardent followers are REALLY about. I read it, and wow, he's so close to getting it, but not quite. 1/n theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

The (supposed) point of the article is that Trump is no longer the force that he used to be: his speeches are more incoherent, rambly, self-pitying, and boring than before. But, along the way, Coppins misses some of the really big insights. 2/n

First, I'll get it out of the way that I agree with him on one thing: Trump speaks in a weird shorthand that only conservatives understand. Except, this is not a new observation: I wrote about it in my book 3 years ago. 3/n

I'll also give partial credit to Coppins acknowledging "some people might not feel safe."

Uh, no, some people definitely are NOT safe. Trump has encouraged his followers to beat people at his rallies, and cops to rough them up. 4/n axios.com/2022/05/02/tru…

After 8 years of conservatives telling the public that trans people are dangerous insane child molesting and mutilating communist vermin who are dedicated to destroying America who must be eradicated, WTF do you think will happen if they figured out who I am? 5/n

Definitely not safe. And this is the first missed opportunity for epiphany: what sort of movement demonizes a tiny minority, calls for their eradication, and encourages violence? Sounds kind of fascist to me. Might as well ask black people to attend a Klan rally. 6/n

Coppins also fails to invert the question: would a really nasty conservative, standing quietly at a Biden speech be in any particular danger? Answer: probably not. I've seen people from the Daily Wire crash trans events. Violence is ingrained asymmetrically. 7/n

It also begs the question: why doesn't Coppins beg conservatives to attend a Joe Biden speech or campaign event to learn how nice, friendly and boring most Democratic supporters are? Or hear what Biden's policy goals really are, and not from Fox News? 8/n

You don't and this is part of the biggest problem I have with the article: the normalization of fascism, because the author fails to realize: he's standing in the middle of a fascist rally, and the people around him are every bit as good and normal as Germans circa 1932-1933. 9/n

Coppins tries very hard to normalize, and even empathize, with Trump supporters. "See, look, they're friendly churchy types!" "Yeah, they have some kooky views, but you should have empathy for these slightly misguided people." 10/n

What Coppins fails to realize (or say) is that even if Trump's act is stale, the movement he is the figurehead for is ascendant. I called this out in American Fascism repeatedly, and it's literally the first sentence in the book. 11/n

These are not poor misguided but otherwise very nice people: they're fascists, and Donald Trump is where he is because he's giving them what they want to hear, while promising them social supremacy and vengeance. They WANT the end of Democracy. 12/n newrepublic.com/article/177796…

If Trump keels over tomorrow of natural causes, the number 2 guy in the GOP primaries (DeSantis) is also a terrifying glimpse into a post democracy America.

It feels safe and normal to Coppins, because he is a straight white man from a conservative religious tradition. 13/n

He missed the history lessons from both the US and Germany that tell us perfectly nice, normal people who are wonderful to members of their in group can be the most ardent supporters of absolutely horrific movements: whether it's slavery, Jim Crow, or National Socialism. 14/n

Tons have been written on the topic, but I'd recommend "They Thought They were Free: The Germans 1933-1945" by Milton Mayer, "Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil" by Hannah Arendt, and 15/n

"Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland" by Christopher Browning. I'd also suggest "Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass", which contains the following: 16/n

This is the gazillionth article that subtly (or not-so-subtly) tries to paint Trump supporters in a sympathetic light, motivated by economic anxiety (they're not) or simply by being misled by Trump and bad actors flooding the zone.

They're not. And media should be ashamed. 17/n

Where's the flood of articles following the 20% of trans people who have already fled red states because they see what's coming from this fascist movement? There's some legitimate anxiety. Where's the "humanization" of Biden supporters? 18/n

There has been a fascination with what make people support horrific movements, but less so about how much responsibility they bear for supporting this movement. In WWII, we went directly to obliterating them if they were standing too close to something of military value. 19/n

The only reason we (and by we, I mean the media and public at large) haven't acknowledged this movement as something horrific beyond words is because we haven't reached the "Oh God, they're all dead. What have we done?" part of the cycle. 20/n

And if you think this is hyperbole, consider this letter sent to a trans content creator recently. Even if this didn't happen (and it probably didn't), they certainly fantasize about it. This is coming from the sort of "good" people you find at a Trump rally. 21/n

In the end, this article was a huge missed opportunity for epiphany. About the banality of evil. About how fascism is deeply embedded in American politics, Trump or no. It notices "Trump got stale, but he's still winning. Weird." but doesn't ask "Why?" 22/n

I suspect it's because they answer to "why" speaks to a deeper, and extremely ugly, truth: we have normalized fascism, and a desire for dictatorship writ large in the US, and we're about to get it in the face with both barrels. 23/n

And here's the thing: I don't hate them. They're just average human beings. They may dream of eradicating me, but not vice versa.

However, they scare the hell out of me because I know very well where movements like theirs eventually go.

Where we're going now. Where I am. 24/n