'Swift action': Neo-Nazis view Trump presidency as chance to 'tear down anything leftist'

27 January

On his first night back in the White House, President Donald Trump granted broad pardons to roughly 1500 defendants who were involved in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building — including those who violently attacked police officers. Trump also commuted the sentences of 14 defendants, resulting in members of far-right groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys being released from prison.

Journalist Ban Makuch, reporting for The Guardian, warns that "far-right activists and neo-Nazis" are feeling encouraged by Trump's second presidency are determined to "take advantage of the popular awakening of American fascism."

In a Telegraph post, Makuch notes, a neo-Nazi wrote, "Get the bag, infiltrate existing institutions with power, build new institutions while we have breathing room, and tear down anything leftist…. The left is exhausted, extremely unpopular, and has been divested from by their tech bro backers. Now is the time to openly advocate for ourselves. Now is the time to go from defense and survival towards organizing and swift action."

Neo-Nazis groups that are feeling more optimistic, according to Makuch, include The Base and the Aryan Freedom Network.

Joshua Fisher-Birch of the Counter Extremism Project told The Guardian, "These groups see the next four years as a mix of positives and negatives but overall, as an opportunity to enlarge their movement. Extreme-right groups are focusing on mass deportations and seeking to win over potential recruits by concentrating on this issue."

Makuch notes, however, that neo-Nazis are deeply suspicious of the federal government and view Trump as a "race traitor" because he has Jewish grandchildren. The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, was raised Presbyterian but is a convert to Judaism, and her husband, Jared Kushner, is Jewish.

Fisher-Birch told The Guardian, "Several groups are enjoying fascism being in the public sphere and what they view as liberal and left-wing panic and distress over (Elon) Musk's salute. Several others have noted that they have not benefited from the alliance with big tech and that major social media platforms are still removing their content.”

Read The Guardian's full article at this link.

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