Morning Briefing: Far Right Influence on GOP State Lawmakers
More than 1 in 5 Republican state lawmakers have joined far right Facebook groups, according to a new report from the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights.
Morning Briefing: A new report finds that “875 state legislators serving in the 2021-2022 legislative period and representing all 50 states who have joined at least one of 789 far-right Facebook groups.”
The report “found 27 Michigan lawmakers participated in far-right groups,” and in Arizona “12 have done so — about 25% of the state’s GOP legislators.” The report also “identifies 14 Colorado legislators in far-right Facebook groups,” including the Colorado House of Representatives Minority Leader Hugh McKean.
In the wake of the White Supremacist terrorist attack in Buffalo, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security program that targets violent extremism is facing questions from critics over “whether the grants are effective in preventing violence,” and claims the “program could violate people’s civil rights by sweeping up some people who have no intention of hurting others, while missing people who pose a threat.”
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation with a 222-to-203 vote that “would create domestic terrorism offices across three federal agencies, spurred by alarm over the rise in incidents of homegrown violent extremism in recent years.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced guilty pleas in the case invovling four men associated with the “Michigan-based white supremacist group known as ‘The Base.’”
The results of this week’s primary elections illustrate “the extent of extremist and anti-democratic tendencies in the Republican Party,” as far right candidates won GOP primaries in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Idaho.
Doug Traubel, former sheriffs deputy who endorses the far right views of the “constitutional sheriffs movement,” was defeated in the GOP primary for Sheriff of Ada County in Idaho.
Must Reads
Schuyler Mitchell writes the “nexus of converging birthrate panic, “great replacement” rhetoric, and expanded government authority over bodily autonomy presents a sinister omen for America’s future. While the majority of Americans who oppose abortion and trans rights may not be actively thinking in terms of population goals, the pro-natalism of the anti-trans and anti-abortion movements inherits from these complicated histories of state power and reproductive intervention. In order to fully grapple with the ramifications of the impending Roe v. Wade reversal, it is critical that the left understands these interconnected movements and their relationship to a burgeoning nationalist authoritarianism.” [The Intercept]
Kate Sosin reports that “while Trump appeared to start out a social moderate, far-right evangelical policies increasingly dominated his agenda. On the campaign trail, Trump briefly vowed to be an ally to queer Americans. In office, his administration made so many policy moves against LGBTQ+ Americans that advocacy organizations branded his leadership “The Discrimination Administration.” The religious right’s fixation on “social issues” — abortion, religious-based education, LGBTQ+ rights — served two purposes. In addition to keeping evangelicals a cohesive voting unit, they also formed an ideological bedrock for the religious right. Before Weyrich died, he argued that conservatives should be fighting to return to family structures of the 1950s, a goal that has been picked up by leaders after him.” [The 19th]
Kathryn Joyce and Ben Lorber write about a “pattern of increasing overlap between the far right, including overtly white nationalist movements and leaders, with the extreme right-wing fringe of the Roman Catholic Church. This emerging coalition includes such figures as Milo Yiannopoulos, who was effectively expelled from the MAGA movement in 2017 over his remarks about child sex abuse; Canadian white nationalist Faith Goldy, similarly disgraced after appearing on a podcast of the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer; onetime "Stop the Steal" organizer Ali Alexander; and "Kent State gun girl" Kaitlin Bennett. All four have rebranded themselves as "traditional" Catholics (or "trad-Caths," in internet parlance) and allied themselves with an existing network of far-right Catholics that includes Pizzagate provocateur-turned conservative commentator Jack Posobiec, Trump confidant and adviser Steve Bannon and groyper-guru Nick Fuentes himself.” [Salon]
What to expect from Radical Reports: Morning Briefing provides a daily round-up of reporting on the Radical Right; Extremist Links offers a weekly round-up of extremists activities including the white supremacist and militia movements; Research Desk provides monthly highlights research and analysis from academia on the Radical Right; Field Notes delivers research on key organizations and analysis of the strategies and tactics of the Radical Right.