Far-Right Extremists Assemble
Some thoughts on Trump, Fuentes, and the Republican Party’s white nationalist core
I know I promised Part II of my reflection on What We Are Up Against - on the reactionary, rather than conservative (as in: conserving/preserving) nature of the rightwing struggle against democracy - for the end of this week. But we are very close to the end of the semester at Georgetown, and that’s a predictably hectic time. So, I’ve decided to push that to early next week, as it really deserves a proper deep dive and will probably necessitate a fairly long essay.
We did, however, discuss the issue on Is This Democracy, a podcast I co-host with political scientist Lilliana Mason and Perry Bacon from the Washington Post. The new episode dropped this morning, and if you can’t wait to hear why righting pundits and (pseudo-)intellectuals are increasingly rejecting the label “conservatism” and why that’s indicative of the radically reactionary nature of their assault on democracy, please check our conversation. I will post an extended version of what I tried to say on the pod in newsletter form soon.
We also talked about Trump hosting raging anti-Semite Kanye West and leading Holocaust denier and white power activist Nick Fuentes for a nice dinner at Mar-a-Lago. When I first heard about it, I was reluctant to address it at all – is there really anything to be learned from this sorry affair? But I do now think it can serve as a clarifying reminder of a few important things, and it’s worth spelling those out here as well, in addition to what we discussed on the pod.
This episode is, first of all, a reminder of who Donald Trump is. We have seen this silly dance a few times before. Remember Trump’s reaction to being enthusiastically endorsed by David Duke prior to the 2016 election? He simply claimed to have no idea who Duke was – while also refusing to denounce him. That was obviously a lie, as Trump had actually talked about Duke publicly many times before. In the case of Fuentes, I think it is possible that Trump didn’t know him, or at least not much about him. But the telling part is that according to reporting, Trump really liked Fuentes. And yet again, he simply won’t disavow him.
Trump doesn’t have much of a problem with Fuentes because he doesn’t object to his ideological and political convictions. Trump shares the white supremacist perspective on the world, and his anti-Semitism has maybe attracted less public attention, but is not any less striking. Trump seems to subscribe to all the anti-Semitic stereotypes, he’s been using and pushing many anti-Semitic tropes: Jews only like money, they are only loyal to Israel… The former president seems to have no conception of American Jews as Americans, he doesn’t see them as “Us,” but as “Them.” This attitude towards Jews and Israel is fairly typical on the (far-) Right, as rightwingers are generally sympathetic to the idea of an ethno-nationalist state with a clearly defined ethno-religious identity, which they see in Israel – and in this worldview, that’s where the Jews belong. As they consider “real” America to be a white Christian ethno-nationalist-religious state, Jews can only be conceptualized as outsiders, as the Other. Their right to be here, among “Us,” is always conditional – fully depending on them showing deference to the white nationalist political project. That’s what Trump means when he constantly talks about how the American Jews should be grateful to him – or else…
The American Right will not break with Trump over this – nor will the Republican Party, even though some GOP elites have come out with critical statements. Just like Trump himself, they understand that this would alienate a good chunk of the base. As always, it is really worth listening to what Republicans think animates the conservative base, what drives their coalition. Whatever else we want to say about the current state of the Republican politics: The GOP is a party in which white nationalism and white supremacy are such powerful forces that hanging out with Holocaust-denying, leading white power activists will not get you ostracized.
Finally, I keep coming back to this: All of the people who had dinner at Mar-a-Lago are ridiculous. This whole scene – Trump welcoming a rapidly disintegrating Kanye West, who brought his buddy Fuentes, them having a god time over there – is ridiculous, outrageous. But that doesn’t make it harmless. Yes, Fuentes is a young dude who likes to provoke. He is a professional troll – trolling provocation is the business model. But he is also one of the premier white power activists and Holocaust deniers in the country. The outrageousness is a deliberate strategy: It is meant to endear him and his ideas to other young dudes who find him funny, entertaining. And it is also meant to insulate him and his movement from criticism to some extent – how bad could it be, you see, it’s not serious, it’s funny! They are using silly frog memes! Ultimately, this is all focused on the goal of spreading these ideas and ideologies, of entering them into the mainstream of the American Right and the Republican Party. And Fuentes has been an instrumental figure in the rise of militant white power activism.
I have said this a few times before: I fear that, after so many years of Trumpism, we have become so inundated with political stunts, so accustomed to outrageous political acts, that we might be becoming numb to how extreme, how dangerous this all is. We must not be lulled into a false sense of security by the clownishness, the ridiculousness of it all. There is no natural law that democracy can’t be brought down by ridiculous people and trolls. Some of history’s most successful authoritarians were considered goons and buffoons by their contemporaries - until they became goons and buffoons in power.
Finally, some reading suggestions: John Ganz had an excellent break down of what to make of the whole Mar-a-Lago fiasco in his newsletter Unpopular Front, which I suggest everyone should read. And on the past and present of the white power activism in America, please follow historian Kathleen Belew, whose 2019 book Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America is required reading.
Lincoln gave the solution to the problem of maintaining “The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions:” in his Lyceum Speech of 1838
“Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well wisher to his posterity, swear by the blood of the Revolution, never to violate in the least particular, the laws of the country; and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and Laws, let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor;--let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own, and his children's liberty. Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap--let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs;--let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.“
Fuentes should be shunned by any decent human being, but human nature being what it is, there is a ready made market for his hatred. I haven’t seen him back on Twitter, but one of his biggest cheerleaders, Michelle Malkin, “aka Groyper Mom,” is on Twitter. Her belief system is utterly unreal.