Sara Kamali, Visiting Research Scholar at the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a prime-time speech on Sept. 1, 2022, in Philadelphia. Alex Wong/Getty Images
In September 2022, President Joe Biden convened a summit called United We Stand to denounce the “venom and violence” of white nationalism ahead of the midterm elections.
His remarks repeated the theme of his prime-time speech in Philadelphia on Sept. 1, 2022, during which he warned that America’s democratic values are at stake.
“We must be honest with each other and with ourselves,” Biden said. “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
Former President Donald Trump embraces Kari Lake, the Arizona GOP candidate for governor, at a rally on July 22, 2022. Mario Tama/Getty Images
While that message may resonate among many Democratic voters, it’s unclear whether it will have any impact on any Republicans whom Biden described as “dominated and intimidated” by former President Donald Trump, or on independent voters who have played decisive roles in elections, and will continue to do so, particularly as their numbers increase.
It’s also unclear whether Trump-endorsed candidates can win in general elections, in which they will face opposition not only from members of their own party but also from a broad swath of Democrats and independent voters.
What is clear is that this midterm election cycle has revealed the potency of conspiracy theories that prop up narratives of victimhood and messages of hate across the complex American landscape of white nationalism.
Campaigning on conspiracy theories
In my book, “Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists Are Waging War on the United States,” I detail how the white nationalist narrative of victimhood and particular grievances have gained traction to become ingrained in the present-day Republican Party.
I also examine four key strands of white nationalism that overlap in various configurations: religions, racism, conspiracy theories and anti-government views.
Conspiracy theories allow white nationalists to depict a world in which Black and brown people are endangering the livelihoods, social norms and morals of white people.
In general, conspiracy theories are based on the belief that individual circumstances are the result of powerful enemies actively agitating against the interests of a believing individual or group.
Based on the interviews I conducted while researching my book, these particular conspiracy theories are convenient because they justify the shared white nationalist goal of establishing institutions and territory of white people, for white people and by white people. While conspiracy theories are not new, and certainly not new to politics, they spread with increasing frequency and speed because of social media.
The “great replacement theory” is one such baseless belief that is playing a role in the anti-immigration rhetoric that is central to the 2022 strategies of many Republican candidates who are running for seats at all levels of government.
That theory erroneously warns believers of the threat that immigrants and people of color pose to white identity and institutions.
For months on the 2022 campaign trail, Republican Blake Masters, a venture capitalist who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, has portrayed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border as part of an elaborate plot by Democrats to dilute the political power of voters born in the United States.
“What the left really wants to do is change the demographics of this country,” Masters said in a video posted to Twitter last fall.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is another Republican leader who decries what he calls “the invasion of the southern border.”
The lie of the ‘Big Lie’
Aside from the inflammatory anti-immigration rhetoric, the conspiracy theory currently having the biggest impact on local, state and federal political campaigns across the country is Trump’s “Big Lie” that he won the 2020 election.
Donald Trump greets Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano on Sept. 3, 2022. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Of the 159 endorsements Trump has made for proponents of the Big Lie, 127 of them have won their primaries in 2022.
In addition, Republican candidates who align themselves with the Big Lie are also emerging victorious in races for state- and county-level offices whose responsibilities include direct oversight of elections.
The continuation of QAnon
On his social media site Truth Social, the former president quotes and spreads conspiracy theories from the quasi-religious QAnon. A major tenet of QAnon is the belief that the Democrats and people regarded as their liberal allies are a nefarious cabal of sexual predators and pedophiles.
Trump is not the only Republican politician who welcomes and spreads such disinformation.
Two of the most prominent politicians who have been linked to supporting QAnon are U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, both of whom have been resoundingly endorsed by Trump.
Democracies under threat
The blatant use of conspiracy theories for political gain reflects the open embrace of white nationalism in not only the United States but also throughout Sweden, France, Italy and other parts of the world.
In my view, the conspiracy theories that drive the 2022 midterm campaigns reflect the global threat of hate around the world.
It was written by: Sara Kamali, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Read more:
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Trump’s time is up, but his Twitter legacy lives on in the global spread of QAnon conspiracy theories
A growing mistrust in democracy is causing extremism and strongman politics to flourish
Areeba Shah
Sat, September 23, 2023
Greg Abbott Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Texas has seen a sudden surge in extremist activity within the past three years, with white supremacist and anti-LGBTQ+ groups making the Lone Star state its base of operations.
According to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League, there has been an 89% increase in antisemitic incidents in Texas from January 2021 to May of this year. Along with six identified terrorist plots and 28 occurrences of extremist events like training sessions and rallies, Texas also saw an increase in the frequency of propaganda distribution.
"Texas has a long history of white nationalist activity and for many years has had a very active presence of white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups in the state, but the report's findings really do paint a very troubling picture of the current situation," Stephen Piggott, who studies right-wing extremism as a program analyst with the Western States Center, a civil rights group, told Salon.
"Texas is the homebase for a number of really active white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups, such as the Patriot Front and the Aryan Freedom Network."
This is one of the main factors driving extremism in the state. Patriot Front has contributed to Texas experiencing the highest number of white supremacist propaganda distributions in the United States in 2022, the report found.
The group has a "nationwide footprint," with members all around the country and their messaging contributing to 80% of nationwide propaganda in 2022 – a trend replicated every year since 2019, according to the report.
Patriot Front has also held rallies in major cities across the country, including Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and Indianapolis, where the events are frequently the largest public white supremacist gatherings.
Texas' close proximity to Mexico also makes it a hotbed for anti-immigrant activity, Piggot added, pointing to a growing number of nationalist and neo-Nazi groups focusing on immigration issues.
"They'll have rallies where a lot of the rhetoric is focused on demonizing immigrants and using dehumanizing rhetoric about immigrants," he said. "They're focused on the issue of immigration because Texas is a border state, but also an avenue for getting more recruits."
The political context further amplifies this phenomenon, Peter Simi, a sociology professor at Chapman University and an expert on white supremacists in the U.S., told Salon.
"When you look at the political context of what's happening in Texas as far as [the movement of] anti-CRT, anti-reproductive rights, anti-gay… that is extremely conducive and consistent with groups like the Patriot Front, so they kind of thrive," Simi said.
Last year, 31 members of Patriot Front were arrested near Idaho after police stopped a U-Haul truck near a "Pride in the Park" event and found members dressed uniformly and equipped with riot shields. Every present Patriot Front member was charged with criminal conspiracy to riot.
But this hasn't deterred the group from putting on public demonstrations and in many cases, even documenting them. In July, close to 100 masked group members recognized Independence Day by holding a flash demonstration in Austin while carrying riot shields, a banner reading "Reclaim America" and upside-down American flags.
"Whenever they have a gathering or any type of kind of public demonstration, they have folks filming and they put out really kind of flashy videos on social media, especially on places like Telegram and it's all designed to make it look cool and edgy," Piggot said.
Extremist groups often use online platforms to recruit and spread their ideology. Over the past year, ADL found that online hate and harassment rose sharply for adults and teens ages 13-17.
Among adults, 52% reported being harassed online in their lifetime, the highest number we have seen in four years, up from 40% in 2022, ADL spokesperson Jake Kurz said.
"Many online platforms either recommend more extreme and hateful content or make it easier to find once searched," Kurz said pointing to the report's findings. "For some, this could lead to a dark spiral into hate and extremism."
Patriot Front has emerged as one of the most aggressive groups in terms of distributing propaganda, Simi pointed out. They often even post pictures of the propaganda they've distributed online and circulate those images more broadly.
"In a nutshell, they're trying to really be aggressive in establishing a physical presence through [distributing] flyers as well as through actual demonstrations," Simi said. "They've also been known to do these flash mob style demonstrations and sometimes more coordinated demonstrations where they've shown up in places, like our nation's capital."
As a part of their recruitment strategies, white supremacist groups have consistently targeted the LGBTQ+ community, disrupting drag shows, targeting pride events and even going after businesses that support LGBTQ+ events. They have used slurs like "groomers" when talking about the LGBTQ+ community to draw more individuals to their movement.
"The anti-LGBTQ+ animus is probably the single greatest driver of white nationalist and anti-democracy activity that we're seeing across the country right now," Piggot said.
ADL tracked 22 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents in 2022 across Texas. While some actions involved extremists, others engaged more mainstream anti-LGBTQ+ entities, offering extremists opportunities to expose new audiences to different forms of hate.
"Hate and extremism seem to be a growing issue across the United States," Kurz said. "The number of antisemitic incidents across the country are the highest we have ever measured. Instances of white supremacist propaganda are high and we are seeing an alarming amount of violence motivated by hate and misinformation."
Kurz added that people should look at the Texas report and recognize that while some of the types of extremism are different, extremism is a problem in every community in the country.
The communities that are being targeted in Texas mirror those targeted nationwide, said Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director for research, reporting and analysis at the SPLC.
"Some of the real intense false conspiracies that circulate around QAnon are resulting in an increase in the sovereign citizen movement – a conspiratorial movement that is not followed and and even recognized a lot in the U.S.," Carroll Rivas said.
Other trends in Texas that are indicative of broader extremism patterns in the country include the targeting of school curriculums, she added.
The reason why these groups feel comfortable operating in Texas is because of the role that elected officials in the state are playing in "echoing white nationalist talking points," Piggot said.
He pointed to Texas Governor Greg Abbott's extreme anti-immigrant actions, putting up barbed wire across the Rio Grande and a chain of buoys with circular saws.
"Governor Abbott is essentially doing the work for white nationalists by echoing and then amplifying their dehumanizing rhetoric," Piggot said. "Just this week, he declared an invasion [at the border]. That's a phrase that white nationalists have used to describe what's happening on the U.S. [and] Mexico border for decades."
In both Texas and Florida, neo-Nazis and white nationalists are "feeling energized" and have increased their activities due to seeing this type of messaging from Abbot and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, he added.
"We need elected officials to be closing the political space for these groups and denouncing them instead of amplifying their messages for them," Piggot said.
Yasmeen Freightman
Sat, September 23, 2023
Public outcry brought Houston-area activists to one predominantly Black neighborhood to remove a very bizarre and offensive set of Halloween decorations that resembled Black bodies hanging upside down from trees.
The Houston Chronicle reported that the decorations were hung from a tree in front of a home in the Third Ward community. Community members called for the removal of the decorations, stating their imagery mimics public lynchings.
A neighbor told the Chronicle they were put up last week by one homeowner. Many neighbors know the homeowner puts up Halloween decorations every year, but they called this year’s display “immeasurably insensitive and racist.” Community activists and city officials were notified the Saturday that followed.
Houston City Council member Carolyn Evans-Shabazz visited the home to speak with the homeowner and tell him the display was hanging from trees that were on city property. He told her they were merely “Halloween decorations.”
“I told him they were offensive. He did not care,” Evans-Shabazz said. “I told him he’s in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, and when people are offended, sometimes things happen. But he didn’t seem to care. He was very abrasive.”
Community activist Quanell X also tried to speak with the homeowner but was unsuccessful in his attempts. He went to the home accompanied by another popular Houston activist, Candice Matthews. Both characterized the display as “racist.”
Before the decorations were cut down, Quanell X brought a lawyer to confirm that the decorations were on city property. The Houston Police Department also confirmed they were hung from trees on city property.
Watch video of the decorations here.
“Every Houstonian, Texan and American should be outraged by the ‘strange fruit’ displayed in Houston,” Houston NAACP president James Dixon said.
The NAACP Houston Branch also released a statement denouncing the display.
“It is our position that leading citizens in our city should join us in condemning this behavior whenever it arises, emphasizing that this doesn’t reflect the spirit of Houston’s respect for all people of every race,” the statement read.
“I don’t know what his intentions were, but they were cut down, so to speak,” Shabazz told the Chronicle. “I assume that if he puts them back up, they’re going to get cut back down
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