[Increasingly ignored by the mainstream, right-wing edgelords are
amassing power behind the scenes. ]
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THE FAR RIGHT IS GROWING STRONGER—AND HAS A PLAN FOR 2024  
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Spencer Sunshine
January 4, 2024
The New Republic
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_ Increasingly ignored by the mainstream, right-wing edgelords are
amassing power behind the scenes. _

Marjorie Taylor Green, Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)

 

In the last year, the far right has dropped off the radar of many
Americans, as issues like the Israel-Hamas war, ongoing concerns about
the economy, and the upcoming election have understandably dominated
the headlines. The continuing January 6 arrests, trials, and
convictions and Trump’s legal issues are mop-ups of crimes from
years earlier. And while school board takeovers and drag show
disruptions
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in the public consciousness, these issues are typically shrouded
behind euphemisms like “parents’ rights.”
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Another reason for this oversight is because far-right ideas have
permeated American politics. Although the alt right collapsed
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its goal of shifting the “Overton window”—the spectrum of what
is considered legitimate political discourse—succeeded. Today,
white supremacist, anti-LGBTQ+, and even antisemitic conspiracy
theories have become so prevalent that what was taboo even in 2018 is
accepted by many as not only normal but acceptable.

However, observers of the far right are keenly aware of the
movement’s continuing strength. For years many hoped the forces
unleashed by Trump’s ascent in 2016 would reach a point of sudden
collapse, as had happened in the past. These dreams were first pinned
on Trump’s election losses (first in 2016 and then in 2020) and then
on an expected delegitimization after the January 6, 2021,
insurrection. But this has not been the case, and even in the absence
of new high-profile events, the far right’s activist base has
continued largely unfazed under President Biden. Looking at its
organizations and strategies, as well as issues from the past year,
shows what it will hit the ground running with as the 2024
presidential campaign heats up.

Donald Trump

Trump remains the far right’s leading figure, commanding a devoted
following and remaining the center of news coverage. 

Experts who watch the far right are concerned about possible violence
if Trump does not become president. David Neiwert, author of _The Age
of Insurrection_
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that although he thinks it is unlikely that Trump will win, if he
doesn’t his “hardcore supporters are going to engage in acts of
domestic terrorism.” (If he is convicted and sentenced to jail time,
Neiwert believes they may even go so far as to “try and break him
out” of prison.) Journalist Teddy Wilson, publisher of Radical
Reports [[link removed]], is only a little less
circumspect, saying that “another mass casualty event” like the
1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168, is “hanging in the
air.” And Professor Amy Cooter, author of _Nostalgia, Nationalism,
and the US Militia Movement_
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she “would not be shocked” by violence following the
election—although she hesitates to say it would be a certainty.

If Trump does regain power, the threat he poses is exponentially
greater. Wilson says that even those who’ve cooled on him, thanks to
his failure to make good on promises like “building the wall,” are
excited by his threats of revenge. Trump has already vowed to crown
himself dictator (but only on “day one”
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take “retribution” against his enemies, “stop the Marxist
prosecutors”
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the Department of Justice and elsewhere, and put tens of thousands
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federal jobs under his direct control. 

One of the most worrying recent developments is that what is now
called the “MAGA movement,” which emerged in Trump’s wake, is no
longer dependent on him. While it follows his politics, it acts
politically without him. Its most visible elected politicians are
members of Congress, particularly Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren
Boebert, and Paul Gosar. Of them, Greene has been able to garner the
most attention, sharing the spotlight only with Florida Governor Ron
DeSantis, who himself is waging a full-throated war against LGTBQ+
people and the state’s educational system. Trump’s ideas on issues
like immigration and foreign policy have permeated the Republican
Party to such an extent that they have dominated several GOP
presidential debates that he himself has not participated in.

The Grassroots

The most popular focus of grassroots political work in 2023 was
attacking LGBTQ+ issues, with a particular concentration on
transgender rights. Wilson describes this overarching framework as
“focused on children” who are being cynically “used to pursue
policy goals.” These include the often successful takeovers of
school boards, banning of library books (usually featuring LGBTQ+
content), and attempts to shut down drag events, which are claimed to
“groom” children. The main organization driving these actions is
Moms for Liberty, which was founded
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2021 and has since grown  to 285 chapters
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Moms for Liberty has forged close relations with the Proud Boys, who
are now notorious after years of wanton street violence, Trump’s
pre–January 6 nod to them to “stand back and stand by,”
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their subsequent role in storming the Capitol. In fact, the long
sentences handed to multiple members for their pivotal role in the
insurrection—leader Enrique Tarrio got 22 years
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not stymied their growth. Among other things, the Proud Boys have made
significant inroads into local Republican Party structures. 

Since January 6, over 1,000 people
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been charged for their role in the violent assault on the Capitol,
with some receiving stiff sentences. For example, this spring Peter
Schwartz—himself not a member of the Proud Boys—received 14 years
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attacking Capitol police with a folding chair and pepper spray. While
it was hoped that these convictions would halt the far right’s
momentum, this hope was quickly dashed as even mainstream Republicans
came to the January 6 arrestees’ defense. In fact, Wilson says many
of those imprisoned expect Trump to pardon them if he returns to the
White House in 2025.

Crime

Of course, even out of power the far right has continued to practice
what it’s best known for: violence. White supremacist massacres in
2023 included one at a Jacksonville, Florida
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dollar store (three killed) and one at a Dallas
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mall (eight killed). And this is in addition to individual murders
like those of Laura Ann Carleton, who was killed for hanging a Pride
flag
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her store.

Enabled by online anonymity, threats toward anyone perceived as an
enemy are now commonplace occurrences. While many are directed
at elected officials
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such as opponents of Jim Jordan’s nomination as speaker of the
House, it’s now common
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target judges, juries, teachers—even hospitals. According to the
National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education
Center, last year federal prosecutions for these threats were the
highest in a decade, and they are only expected to rise.

Social Media

Social media has greatly aided the rise in threatening language and
online abuse. Large accounts like Libs of TikTok, which has 2.7
million X/Twitter followers, use their significant platforms to
target others
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inevitably leading to waves of threatening messages. Elon Musk’s
purchase of that platform has made things significantly worse
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He’s brought back banned far-right accounts, loosened content
moderation, and made increasingly racist and antisemitic posts
himself. These reached a new low in November when he wrote that a post
that claimed Jews were pushing “dialectical hatred” against whites
through support for liberal immigration policies was the “actual
truth.”
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Punishment

Even beyond January 6, the far right has kept the legal system busy.
Although well after the fact, some tiki-torch wielding marchers
[[link removed]] from the 2017
Charlottesville rally were arrested earlier this year, including
planned speaker and far-right activist Augustus Invictus
[[link removed]]. And three
massacre perpetrators were sentenced. Robert Bowers, who in 2018
murdered 11 at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, received
a death
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Crusius
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who killed 23 at an El Paso Walmart in 2019, as well as Anderson
Aldrich [[link removed]], who killed
five at Club Q in Denver in 2022, both received life in prison. So
did Benjamin Smith
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who committed one of four far-right murders in Portland, Oregon,
between 2017 and 2022.

Lawsuits

Private citizens also spent the year using the legal system against
the far right by pursuing civil action. Families of the Sandy Hook
victims are continuing to try and make conspiracy-monger Alex Jones
pay the $1.5 billion judgment
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against him in 2022 for unleashing intense harassment against them by
claiming the school shooting was a hoax. Militia leader Ammon Bundy of
the People’s Rights Network was ordered to pay $52 million
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defaming St. Luke’s Health System, which led to ongoing threats
against health care workers. And Patriot Front, a white supremacist
group, has been hit by a lawsuit
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what is alleged to have been a racially motivated assault during a
Boston march.

Militias, etc.

While groups with mainstream connections like Moms for Liberty and the
Proud Boys have received the greatest amount of attention, others are
waiting in the wings, including the heavily armed militia movement.
While Oath Keepers’ leader Stewart Rhodes made headlines for getting
an 18-year sentence
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seditious conspiracy for his role in January 6, the group’s
importance has always been overstated. In fact, Cooter points out that
a massive Facebook deplatforming
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2020 was much more harmful to the militia movement than Rhodes’s
arrest. The militias have continued to organize more quietly, and she
says it’s possible they will deploy armed “observers” at voting
drop boxes in November.

Two other strains related to militias have also seen upticks in 2023:
Constitutional Sheriffs and Sovereign Citizens. The latter believe in
a parallel legal system where they are exempt from almost all laws.
Dr. Christine Sarteschi, an expert on this movement, notes that it is
flourishing and is expected to continue to do so. It also has
increasing global appeal and has spread to countries like Australia,
Germany, and Russia. Sovereign Citizens originated in the same 1970s
white supremacist group, Posse Comitatus, as the Constitutional
Sheriffs movement; the latter holds that county sheriffs can decide
which laws to enforce. This idea also did well in 2023, having further
spread into mainstream law enforcement circles. In some places,
sheriffs can now take continuing education
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based on these ideas.

Increasingly Ignored by the Mainstream, Right-Wing Edgelords Are
Amassing Power Behind the Scenes

Last, while the white supremacist movement has not received as much
attention as it has in recent years, it continues to germinate as
well. In September in Florida, Blood Tribe and the Goyim Defense
League put on the largest, explicitly neo-Nazi rally
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years. The comparatively moderate Patriot Front—merely fascists, as
opposed to straight-up neo-Nazis—has remained active, despite
receiving a black eye after 28 members
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took pleas or were convicted for attempting to crash a Pride event
last year. Nick Fuentes—a Holocaust denier who has made impressive
inroads into mainstream conservatism, even dining with Trump
himself—made news by meeting with a major right-wing donor
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the head of the Texas GOP was in the same building. But among white
supremacists the year’s real winner was the Active Clubs, a loose
network based around mixed martial arts and related training. It has
quietly established about 50 U.S. groups
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Recently they have moved out of the ring and into increasingly public
political activity.

Wilson observes that the far right has taken close notes since January
6. Now they are better organized, their strategies have evolved, and
they have a plan for what to do after taking power. Traditionally
elections lift the boats of all kinds of grassroots movements, and
with the far right so closely associated with Trump, this one will
undoubtedly energize them. While it waits to be seen how everything
unfolds, especially if Trump is convicted of one or more crimes, a
close watch is in order.

_Spencer Sunshine_
[[link removed]] is a long-time
researcher of the far right and the author of Neo-Nazi Terrorism and
Countercultural Fascism: The Origins and Afterlife of James Mason’s
Siege. @transform6789 [[link removed]]

_The New Republic [[link removed]] was founded
in 1914 to bring liberalism into the modern era. The founders
understood that the challenges facing a nation transformed by the
Industrial Revolution and mass immigration required bold new
thinking._

_Today’s New Republic is wrestling with the same fundamental
questions: how to build a more inclusive and democratic civil society,
and how to fight for a fairer political economy in an age of rampaging
inequality. We also face challenges that belong entirely to this age,
from the climate crisis to Republicans hell-bent on subverting
democratic governance._

_We’re determined to continue building on our founding mission._

* Right Wing Politics
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* Marjorie Taylor Greene
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* Donald Trump
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* Proud Boys
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* Right-wing militias
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