"Undercover With the New Alt-Right," by Amanda Moore in The Nation

Journalist Amanda Moore went undercover for 11 months and demonstrated her point that the extremism that's playing out currently in our country is more dangerous than the press has fully grasped. That said, in days of late, I am hearing more mainstream news media specifically using the word "fascism" to describe Donald Trump and his followers. Yes, long overdue. 

For example, Joe Scarborough in Morning Joe recently said, "It's way too late to call this fascism." Absolutely. It's a good thing to call this out as it's leading to the rise of violence in our country, against Jews, Muslims, immigrants, and U.S. minorities.

Amanda's story is riveting and illuminating of not only the expansiveness of this far-right ecosystem, but also an animated youth movement within doing all they can to infiltrate, and ultimately take over, the GOP. 

I appreciate Amanda's work in Texas where she identifies a link between anti-Semitic white supremacist holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and an anti-immigrant group, Texans for Strong Borders, that as previously posted to this blog. is entangled with Texas Republican Party leadership and GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi himself. These dynamics have fostered a serious divide within the Texas Republican Party that you can learn about in this October 9th Texas Tribune piece by Robert Downen titled, Conservative PAC leader’s meeting with white supremacist Nick Fuentes leads to condemnations, escalates GOP infighting.

These are troubling times in our state and nation, no less.

-Angela Valenzuela

AUGUST 22, 2023 | The Nation

 Undercover With the New Alt-Right

For 11 months, I pretended to be a far-right extremist. I discovered a radical youth movement trying to infiltrate the Republican Party.

AMANDA MOORE

Going to a Proud Boys riot with a neo-Nazi is not something I ever expected to do. But in August 2021, I found myself driving through downtown Portland, Ore., with an avowed white supremacist named Alex Nelson. We were on our way to the abandoned K-Mart parking lot that the Proud Boys had commandeered for their “Summer of Love” rally. The event marked the one-year anniversary of a “Back the Blue” demonstration that had become a brawl between the Proud Boys and militias on one side and anti-fascist counterprotesters on the other.

Earlier that week, Nelson, a man in his late 20s who was fond of discussing his “Anglo heritage,” had invited me to join him to watch what he assumed would be violent clashes. “Portland has canceled all parades and markets for the past year and a half. This is the only culture in Portland now. There will probably be a thousand spectators or more lining the bridges and sidewalks,” he assured me.

By then, I had been undercover with the far right for nine months, motivated by my belief that the fascist threat to the country was misunderstood by much of the press and far more dangerous than what was being reported. At first, I had planned only to sell the audio from “Stop the Steal” rallies to a podcast and write a couple of blog posts. But I found myself wanting to get a behind-the-scenes look at the far-right movement—to go to events from which the press was barred and observe extremists when they felt they were in their “safe space”—so the project grew into something far bigger: a long-term infiltration of the network of young white nationalists in America.As we cruised the city, Nelson said, “The people who go to that parking lot, they’re highly violent, unhinged, very angry older Gen X or boomers. You can’t just show up—they have to know you. And they don’t know anyone under the age of 35.”

By contrast, he added, last night he had been to an Oregon Young Republicans meeting that was “full of normal, healthy, attractive young people.” As we pulled up to a red light, Nelson looked over at me and smirked. “But none of those people are going to be in the K-Mart parking lot.”

People in the political center and on the left tend to have a monolithic view of the far right. In reality, it is an expansive ecosystem that includes neo-Nazis, Christian nationalists, conspiracy theorists, anti-government militias, and white nationalists. These groups have some beliefs that conflict, but they are generally willing to overlook their differences. Still, not every group uses the same tactics to try to gain power.

Connecting the dots: CPAC, AFPAC, Christianity, and how Vladimir Putin is now a "Far-Right Savior"

Trump's stoking white nationalist fears into his supporters' lives and bodies over the trumped-up lie that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is something to be feared even unto the point of death is not just hyperbolic, but also garish and profoundly offensive (i.e., "Trump calls on supporters to 'lay down their very lives' to defend US against Critical Race Theory").

That said, his shrill screams against that which he believes interrupts whiteness —as if white supremacy should not get interrupted—nevertheless thoroughly rhymes with the piece below on Putin's appeal to the extreme right in the U.S. 

We would all do well to not dismiss these characters as a "fringe group" when what they're normalizing is white supremacy within the Republican party, as a whole.

Rather their angry, defensive, off-putting white nationalist vibe found a home with otherwise similarly fear-mongering, "stop-the-steal" republicans attending this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event, including Josh Mandel (R), Candidate for the Senate from Ohio; Congressman Jim Banks (R) Indiana; Josh Hawley (R) Missouri; and Gov. Kristi Noam (R) South Dakota that you can read about in this Rolling Stones piece titled, "White Nationalists Raid CPAC But Find Themselves Right at Home."

CPAC ran adjacently to America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) held in Orlando, Florida organized by white supremacist, anti-Semitic Nick Fuentes who expresses with glee on his face that the "secret sauce here is our young, white men" who then, at Fuentes' behest, loudly applaud Russia for their actions followed by jeers for Putin, all of which you can see and hear for yourselves here. In attendance were Congressman Paul Gosar, (R) Arizona; and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) Georgia, legitimating such extremism. 

The word, "fringe," clearly loses its meaning in a context where the authoritarian, strong-man, by-any-means-necessary, version of history is the preferred one. Read here from this piece below what the offspring is of this kind of thinking:

"Burghart says some extremist rightwing militias even see Ukraine as a potential scenario to discuss how to prepare for urban warfare and a future insurgency in the US itself. Instead of horror at the outbreak of brutal urban warfare, some US extremists are obsessed with the idea of a coming civil war in America.

“They see a societal collapse and need to prepare for an impending civil war, and their focus is on preparing for the battles of that here in the US,” Burgheart added."

What makes this also a Christian ideological agenda is how extremist thought conflates with some interpretations of the book of Revelation that point to Armageddon and end times such that supporting Putin is not only ideologically resonant, but a hastening of the apocalypse. For example, read "Religious Views of Some Extremists May Fuel More Violence : Terrorism: Theologians say apocalyptic visions in Bible’s book of Revelation are being misinterpreted by some right-wing paramilitary groups."

Of course, violence, racial hatred, and war are diametrically opposed to Jesus Christ's call for us to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

It should concern us all that today's Republican Party is leaning heavily in the direction of fascism, endorsing patriarchy, sexism, homophobia, racial violence, totalitarianism, and war, thusly jeopardizing democracy everywhere. 

I hope that people realize this and call it out like I am doing here and vigorously oppose it everywhere—especially at the ballot box. Thanks to Dr. Rudy Acuña for sharing this must-read piece below.

-Angela Valenzuela

‘Key to white survival’: how Putin has morphed into a far-right savior

The Russian president’s ‘strong man’ image and disdain for liberals has turned him into a hero for white nationalists

Sergio Olmos

Sat 5 Mar 2022 02.00

Putin is now seen as the upholder of traditional Christianity. Photograph: Sputnik/Reuters

“Can we get a round of applause for Russia?” asked Nick Fuentes, on stage last week at a white nationalist event. Amid a roar of applause for the Russian president, just days after he invaded Ukraine, many attendees responded by shouting: “Putin! Putin!”

It would be easy to dismiss the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) in Orlando, Florida, as a radical fringe. But speeches by two Republican members of Congress – one in person, the other via video – guaranteed national attention and controversy.

The backlash showed how the war in Ukraine has exposed the American far right’s affinity with Putin. That affinity is complicated by the tortured relationship between Russia and former president Donald Trump, whose rise Moscow supported with a covert operation to undermine US democracy.

Fuentes, a notorious antisemite, created AFPAC to coincide with the more mainstream Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where Trump was the headline speaker last Saturday.

At AFPAC, Fuentes introduced the Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who would this week interrupt the State of the Union address, rising to yell “Build the wall!” as an objection to Joe Biden’s immigration policy. But here she did not interrupt to object to the chanting of the Russian president’s name.

“Ukraine was a place where the same perceived downfalls of western society existed and Putin embodying a strong man authoritarian-type figure stepping in and inflicting suffering on Ukraine was viewed in a positive light

Jared Holt

“I don’t believe anyone should be canceled,” Taylor Greene told the attendees of the white nationalist conference. She lashed out at a wide range of topics from Marxism to cancel culture but avoided the invasion of Ukraine, saying even less on the topic than Russian state media.

Devin Burghart, executive director of Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, said: “In the world of the white nationalists, you are seeing a lot of support for Putin, as expressed by the cheerleading at AFPAC over the weekend.”

Others agree, pointing to a shared socially and culturally conservative ideology, disdain for democratic systems and appreciation for a “strong man” form of government. There was also the fact that it was the current Ukrainian government whom Trump attempted – and failed – to bribe to investigate his political rival Biden: actions which led to his first impeachment.

Jared Holt, a domestic extremism researcher with the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab, said: “When Russia invaded Ukraine, large parts of the far right were supportive.”

Nicholas Fuentes flanked by anti-vaccine protesters at a demonstration in New York. Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

“The common thread is this idea that because of western European and US influence on Ukraine, Ukraine was a place where the same perceived downfalls of western society existed and Putin embodying a strong man authoritarian-type figure stepping in and inflicting suffering on Ukraine was viewed in a positive light.”

Fuentes is certainly the real deal of white nationalism. He attended the deadly “Unite The Right” rally in 2017 and was recently subpoenaed over his involvement in the pro-Trump insurrection on January 6 2021. He now carries on that effort with AFPAC, aiming to create a kind of far-right archipelago by bringing together white nationalists, fascists and Trumpist crowds talking only to each other in their own islands.

The three-year-old conference sees itself as part enfant terrible, piquing the genteel wing of the Republican party, and part Weimar-era beer hall organizing before the putsch. It is far right, but no longer on the fringe of Republican politics.

Taylor Greene was condemned by some in her own party for speaking at AFPAC but is unlikely to be disciplined. And she was not alone. The Arizona congressman Paul Gosar made a video address. A lieutenant governor from Idaho and state legislator from Arizona also spoke at the event, which also attracted figures such as Gavin McInnes, the founder of the violent extremist gang the Proud Boys, which currently has more than three dozen members under indictment for the insurrection.

This represents a disorienting shift for a Republican party once staunchly opposed to communism and the Soviet Union, which President Ronald Reagan dubbed “the evil empire”. But Trump, who in 2015 ran for president promising to build a wall and impose a Muslim ban, stoked the party’s nativist elements.

Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida. 

Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

And as America and the world grow more diverse, critics say, Russia has come to be seen as a beacon of salvation by white nationalists. In 2004 David Duke, a longtime leader of the Ku Klux Klan, described it as “key to white survival”. In 2017 Ann Coulter, a rightwing author and commentator, opined: “In 20 years, Russia will be the only country that is recognizably European.”

Researchers who monitor far-right groups agree that the moment of Putin enthusiasm in the US has intellectual underpinnings with deeper roots. Burghart said: “For almost a decade the work of Russian fascist Alexander Dugin has found a home in American white nationalist circles.”

Dugin’s ideology is steeped in Russian Christian nationalism and has chimed with Putin’s world view. At the same time, it echoes much of the Christian nationalist activism in the US, where liberal values, gay rights and a desire to keep religion out of the state, are seen as decadent and responsible for American decline.

Burghart added: “There’s an attraction to Putin’s hardline authoritarian stand, his aggressive policies, they are attracted to his brand of traditional Christianity that Putin’s expressed. Some have liked Putin’s attacks on the Russian LGBTQ+ community.”

On the eve of the Russian invasion, former Trump aide Steve Bannon hosted private security head Erik Princ, founder of the Blackwater military contracting group, on his popular War Room podcast. The two men – who are highly influential in Trumpist circles – praised Putin as “anti-woke”.

“After four years of praise for the Russian leader there’s a large swath of the right that has internalized that message.

Devin Burghart

Bannon declared: “Putin ain’t woke.” Attacks on wokeness were also a constant thread running through CPAC, which this year had the official slogan: “Awake not woke.”

The legacy of the Trump years shapes the perception of Putin among the right in the US as Trump demonstrated a clear affinity for the Russian leader, even as details emerged of the Russian attempt in the 2016 election to disrupt US democracy. Trump himself praised Putin as “genius” and “smart” as the invasion began only to change his tune later as the military action faltered and casualties mounted.

Even then, while condemning the assault, Trump told CPAC: “The problem is not that Putin is smart – which of course he’s smart – but the real problem is that our leaders are dumb.”

The same was true of America’s most popular conservative broadcaster, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. Right up to the invasion Carlson was lambasting Ukraine as “not a democracy” and a puppet state of the US state department. He also praised Putin, saying: “Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle-class job in my town to Russia?”

That sort of language – contrasting Putin favorably against Democrats on mainstream US television – has an impact.

Burghart commented: “After four years of praise for the Russian leader there’s a large swath of the right that has internalized that message. Some of the right have embraced Putin while others have been slow to denounce the invasion of Ukraine.”

Burghart says some extremist rightwing militias even see Ukraine as a potential scenario to discuss how to prepare for urban warfare and a future insurgency in the US itself. Instead of horror at the outbreak of brutal urban warfare, some US extremists are obsessed with the idea of a coming civil war in America.

“They see a societal collapse and need to prepare for an impending civil war, and their focus is on preparing for the battles of that here in the US,” Burgheart added.