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By C.J. Atkins
It’s really no longer controversial to state that Donald Trump embraces the ideas and thinking of the racist right; he’s been brandishing his bigoted credentials since long before he was elected. But the recent adoption of explicit neo-Nazi and white nationalist imagery and symbols by his campaign suggests Trump is going all out to attract every possible extremist vote he can get.
As polls consistently show Trump trailing Democratic challenger Joe Biden, and with an economy in shambles and a pandemic raging across the country, it’s increasingly looking like Trump’s loyal GOP base may not be enough to capture him the White House for a second term. And as hopes dim for winning over vast swathes of independents or even moderate Republicans, his campaign now appears determined to expand its electorate by activating support from some of the most extreme elements imaginable.
This pairing of a white supremacist mobilization with a robust voter suppression effort targeting people of color means Trump’s desperate bid to hold on to power is escalating dangerously.
Too many coincidences
It’s no longer just Trump’s typical crowd of Confederate hangers-on and the subdued racists of polite conservative society that are being openly courted by Trump. Over the last few weeks, amid the uprising for Black Lives, it is the hardcore neo-Nazi and extreme right which are receiving overtures from the president’s re-election campaign....
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