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MAGA has been split this past week over the issue of whether the neo-Nazis in their camp should be provided a platform to share their views.
The earthquake that opened this fault line was Tucker Carlson interviewing Nick Fuentes, an antisemitic Hitler-lover who leads the “Groyper” wing of the MAGA movement. As MAGA influencers lined up on opposite sides, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts defended Carlson, accusing his critics of “sowing division,” and is now actively engaged in damage control to save his job.
For more details and commentary, I point you to these articles:
NYT (gift link): “G.O.P. Figures Seek Distance From Tucker Carlson, Denouncing Antisemitism”
The xxxxxx: “Groyper War Consumes the Biggest Right-Wing Think Tank”
Adam Kinzinger: “Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, and the GOP’s Moral Collapse”
Russell Moore: “The Church Better Start Taking Nazification Seriously”
But this whole episode leads me to wonder: Why now?
As part of our mission, American Values Coalition has been bringing attention to this issue since our founding in 2021. There have been some instances of MAGA leaders pushing back these ideas. For instance, Charlie Kirk banned Fuentes from Turning Point USA events, Ben Shapiro fired Candace Owens from the Daily Wire for her antisemitic views, and Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News after audio of him making racist remarks were about to surface in a trial. (Although Carlson had been spouting white supremacist talking points in Fox’s prime time slot long before that happened.) These instances are few are far between, however. And as the current debate shows, some MAGA leaders have no issue with neo-Nazis being part of their coalition, even if they disagree about white supremacy. There have been many, too many to count, opportunities for MAGA leaders to publicly condemn the white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and antisemites in their coalition, and yet they remained silent.
For instance:
In May 2023, we pointed to several neo-Nazi stories, including a J6 rioter who praised Hitler and said he was recruiting Christians to kill Jews. He was sentenced to 4 years but was pardoned by Trump in January. And the “ReAwaken American Tour” featured two neo-Nazi speakers alongside MAGA-evangelicals like Sean Feucht, Mike Lindell, Nick Vujicic, and Steve Strang.
In June 2024, we pointed out a conference of Texas Republicans that featured panels with white supremacist and antisemitic ideas. In 2023, this newsletter pointed out, Texas Republican Chair Matt Rinaldi had been at a meeting with Fuentes. As a result, the Texas Republican executive committee attempted to ban members from associating with Nazi sympathizers, but the vote failed to pass.
Political Extremism Reaches New Heights in TX GOP | ||||||
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Here in Texas where AVC is based, the state Republican Party is being overrun by political extremists. | ||||||
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In September 2024, we brought attention to Carlson interviewing, with praise, a pseudo-historian who claimed Winston Churchill was the real villain of World War II and Hitler wasn’t so bad.
Also in September 2024, we pointed out that a false claim about Haitians eating cats that was spread by Trump during a presidential debate was begun by a neo-Nazi group.
3 Things to Know About the Springfield Lie | ||||||
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For last week's newsletter, I wrote about former president Donald Trump's false claim during the presidential debate that Haitian immigrants were stealing pets and eating them. Here is more information that we've learned since then. | ||||||
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In October 2024, we shared the story of neo-Nazis using AI to spread the ideas of Hitler to a new, young audience.
AI-Hitler Mobilizing Next Gen | ||||||
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Adolf Hitler is dead but AI-Hitler is alive and very online. | ||||||
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And this past July we wrote about influential neo-Nazis sharing their message through podcasts and social media, and especially targeting Christians.
Fascists Are Coming for Our Kids | ||||||
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Prominent fascist leaders in America are targeting their outreach at young people. | ||||||
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I appreciate those who are speaking out now, and better late than never, but more importantly, will they continue to do so?
What Else We’re Reading
RNS: “Inside the fraught effort to create a Christian nationalist internet”
“People who promote alternatives to Twitter say that ‘We’re above politics, we just care about free speech,’” Golumbia told Religion News Service. “And when people point out that they are being used to organize political violence … The people who create it say, ‘Oh, this is unintended and unfortunate, and there’s just nothing we can do about it.’
“But from where I sit, this is the main use case for these tools … They’re just beacons to (extremists).”
The Dispatch: “Immunity Syndrome: The Supreme Court ruling inventing presidential immunity looks dumber every day.”
There is much that is wrong with the Trump administration. But the pressing issue of the moment is that the president is illegally ordering the killing—the murder—of people who have not been charged with, much less convicted of, any crime, doing so under the pretext that this is a wartime necessity deployed against nations with which we are not at war.
Matthew Facciani: “Why This Misinformation Researcher Doesn’t Use the Word ‘Misinformation’ in Everyday Conversations”
Over time, I experienced how the word misinformation carries a lot of baggage in everyday conversations. Sometimes, it even gets in the way of the meaningful dialogue I’m trying to have.
I still use the term constantly in my research, writing, and teaching. It’s a precise term that connects to research in psychology, communication, and information science. But when I’m talking with friends, family, or general audiences, I’ve stopped leading with it.
Here’s why.
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