Election Day: Fear and Loathing on the Far Right
Election Day: Fear and Loathing on the Far Right
The far right’s reaction to the midterm elections ranged from despondence over the nonexistent ‘red wave,’ the promotion of various conspiracy theories, and blame projected on GOP leadership.
As voters around the country gathered at polling places to cast ballots in this year’s midterm elections, the far right conspiracy and misinformation machine went into high gear. Across various social media platforms and online spaces, there was a constant flow of dubious claims and factually inaccurate statements about voting.
Outlandish and dubious claims of election system irregularities, widespread voter fraud, and Democratic candidates cheating and stealing elections, moving across various online platforms including communities on Reddit, channels on Telegram, and other forums in far right online spaces.
While it may seem counterintuitive that far right influencers were predicting a “red wave” and overwhelming Republican victories, while simultaneously making dubious claims about voting machine irregularities, widespread voter fraud and repeating conspiracy theories about election officials and the Democrat Party—it is part of a deliberate strategy of information warfare.
However, as the polls closed and the ballots were tabulated, the mood on the far right drastically changed as it became clear the Republican Party was not going to achieve an overwhelming victory.
The Far Right’s Election Hangover
Some of the blame was focused on Republican Party leadership for not leaning harder into hard right culture war issues. As Quin Hillyer writes in the Washington Examiner, “former President Donald Trump’s Republican Party still scared enough voters that it embarrassingly underperformed in this year’s elections.”
Of course, the media was also to blame. As Edward Ring writes in American Greatness, “the media’s role in rigging elections to favor Democrats cannot easily be overstated, but it’s far from the only way in which elections in America are rigged.”
Some of the blame was even focused on former President Donald Trump, however, this was generally originating from prominent right-wing media figures—and was not well received by the rank-and-file far right and MAGA movement.
Far Right in Disarray, But Not Going Away
Despite all the evidence of infighting among the various factions of the far right, and the apparent frustration with limited electoral success of various far right candidates, it would be a mistake to assume that this would result in any permanent or irreconcilable fractures within the far right.
In the coming days, I will dig further into how the various conspiracy theories and misinformation were spread throughout far right spaces online, and examine how the far right is attempting reorganize and provide some analysis of what have become the far right’s dominate narratives.
Hosting an impromptu discussion on #TwitterSpaces today about the far right’s reaction to the midterm elections. Join the conversation at 2:00pm EST (1:00pm CST / 11:00am PST)
