Morning Briefing: Far Right Conference in Las Vegas
Morning Briefing: Far Right Conference in Las Vegas
FreedomFest, marketed as a libertarian conference, will bring together prominent figures from across the spectrum of the far right, including Christian fundamentalists and right-wing extremists.
Morning Briefing: FreedomFest, which organizers describe as an “annual festival where free minds meet to celebrate ‘great books, great ideas, and great thinkers’ in an open-minded environment,” is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will “feature far-right libertarians with ties to white nationalists and antisemites.”
The conference’s speakers include right-wing politicians such as Betsy DeVos, former Secretary of Education; U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, Republican Senator from Utah; and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, Republican Senator from Kentucky.
Conference speakers also include prominent and influential figures from the far right including Eric Metaxas, Christian conservative right-wing radio host; George Gilder, co-founder of the Christian conservative think tank Discovery Institute; and James O'Keefe, founder of the right-wing media organization Project Veritas.
Nicholas Fuentes, the far right White nationalists, was originally scheduled to speak at the conference, but “was scratched, after the libertarian conference in Las Vegas thought better of associating with the notorious white nationalist.”
FreedomFest conference exhibitors include right-wing groups such as the Tea Party Patriots, Judicial Watch, and the State Policy Network.
Andrew Yang, former Democratic presidential candidate, “will speak Saturday about his new Forward Party and creating political coalitions.”
The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), a far right group which “ refuse to enforce laws that they believe are unconstitutional” and conduct “seminars and trainings meant to radicalize the sheriffs into believing they have ultimate U.S. law enforcement authority,” held an event this week during which speakers “pushed discredited voter fraud allegations from the documentary 2000 Mules.”
Must Reads
Andy Kroll writes that the “stolen-election activists and supporters of former President Donald Trump have embraced a new tactic in their ongoing campaign to unearth supposed proof of fraud in the 2020 presidential race: chasing down a fictional breed of fraudster known as a ‘ballot mule’ and using social media to do it. Inspired by a conservative documentary film that has won praise from Trump and his allies — and debunking from critics including former Attorney General William Barr — self-styled citizen sleuths are posting and sharing photos of unnamed individuals and accusing them of election crimes. They are calling on their followers to help identify these ‘ballot mules,’ who are accused of having violated laws against dropping off multiple absentee ballots during the 2020 election. A state lawmaker in Arizona has even encouraged people to act as ‘vigilantes’ and catch future ‘mules.’” [ProPublica]
Nathan J. Robinson writes that the “panic about drag queens fraternizing with children shows that the intense fear and hatred of those who challenge the norms of gender and sexuality is still widespread on the right. There is no evidence behind the libelous charge that drag queens who like to read stories to kids are pedophiles. The “sexualization” is in the eye of the beholder—personally I find it weird that someone would think there was something inherently “sexual” about dresses, wigs, makeup, and jewelry. In fact, I think conservatives who tried to articulate it would find that they don’t really know why they don’t like drag queens and can’t quite explain what their problem is.” [Current Affairs]
Annika Brockschmidt writes that “while American readers might think that the off-the-rails culture war rhetoric, which has actual, devastating consequences for the lives of all LGBTQ people, is relegated to the US, think again: the opposite is true. In Europe, hate against trans people has been brewing for a while. The UK seems to be the center of this radicalization, which sees so-called ‘feminists’ partnering with right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation to spread their bigotry. In fact, anti-trans hatred has been shown to be a pipeline to right-wing radicalization. United by the biological essentialist definition of sex and gender as one and the same, right-wing vocabulary and buzzwords like ‘gender ideology’ have been mainstreamed in centrist and even some leftist circles, often leading those using them to more and more extreme positions.” [Religion Dispatches]
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.
They are marketing this hard on Fox Nation. In the opening screen it's a photo of Vegas with a banner of the event.