Ever since the Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia claimed the life of Heather Heyer, the entire spectrum on the Right — from moderates all the way to Alt-Right terrorists — has been scrambling to figure out a way to blame it on the Left. That’s natural. It was a murder, after all. Nobody wants to take the blame for anything bad they’re responsible for, let alone the murder of an innocent victim. But Donald Trump has been especially adept at seemingly calling out radical groups, while never actually explicitly naming the radical group that is to blame.
It’s not like he doesn’t know the phrase “Alt-Right.” It’s in the news every day. He sure as hell knows the word “Antifa.” That’s the “many” in his “many sides” comment after Heyer’s murder, which he doubled down on two days later. In fact, the word came out of his mouth in accusation at his Phoenix rally last Tuesday. Someone even made a joke about it:
— Chris Stephens (@ChrisStephensMD) August 23, 2017
The only time I can remember Trump saying the words “alt-right” in reference to Charlottesville was in Trump Tower:
“What about the ‘alt-left’ that came charging at, as you say, the ‘alt-right’? Do they have any semblance of guilt?”
As YOU say.
So why won’t he address the Alt-Right? They are a terrorist group, by any definition. What’s more, they identify as Christians, persecuted for their identity, justifying their actions with appeals to “us” over “them.” That’s pretty reminiscent of another radicalized, religious extremist group that feels persecuted, hates outsiders and gay people, treats women like chattel, and uses terror and death to achieve their aims.
Only those guys are brown.
Here in America, though, ISIS and groups like them — that is to say, “radical Islamic terrorists” — have nothing on white Christian males. A joint intelligence bulletin from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security found that the group we softly label “white supremacists” were responsible for 49 murders in 26 terror attacks over the last decade and a half. That’s more than any other group in America. That report from two agencies tasked with American safety literally says that radicalized white Christian males are the most dangerous people in the country.
Part of Trump’s unwillingness to name the Alt-Right as the terror group they are comes from their Goebbels-like effectiveness with propaganda. If they can make it seem like there actually are two “sides” to the conflict that led to Heyer’s death (and countless other injuries, physical, mental, and personal), they can paint their own side as justified in opposition to it. They achieve this with troll-led petitions that seem legitimate, and by posing as members of the Left and doing horrible things. Remember that kid who would break something, then leave a piece of it in his brother’s room so his parents would bust the wrong boy? That’s the Alt-Right.
But the other part of Donald Trump’s inability to name names when it comes to the Alt-Right is simple: They are his biggest fans, and he loves them, terrorism be damned.
Featured image via Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
