Perspective: ExtremismRight-Wing Terrorism Could Get Even Worse after Trump
Right-wing terrorism has grabbed public attention in the Trump era, thanks to a series of bloody attacks on synagogues, black churches, and mosques. The violence itself is shocking enough, but President Donald Trump’s reaction to it—a mix of denial and equivocation—proved even more galling to many Americans. For white supremacists themselves, the Trump era is a golden one, reversing the steady marginalization the cause had suffered since the civil rights era. But for those hoping that right-wing terrorism will decline should Trump leave office after 2020, the reverse is more likely.
Right-wing terrorism has grabbed public attention in the Trump era, thanks to a series of bloody attacks on synagogues, black churches, and mosques. The violence itself is shocking enough, but President Donald Trump’s reaction to it—a mix of denial and equivocation—proved even more galling to many Americans. For white supremacists themselves, the Trump era is a golden one, reversing the steady marginalization the cause had suffered since the civil rights era. But for those hoping that right-wing terrorism will decline should Trump leave office after 2020, the reverse is more likely.
Daniel Byman writes in Slate that The movement behind the attacks is far stronger than it was when Trump took office, and his defeat at the polls is likely to ignite conspiracy theories and convince many radicals that their government is once again in the hands of enemies. Trump himself may encourage such sentiments from out of office. The only good news is that the right-wing groups themselves are divided and vulnerable to a crackdown should the government decide it is necessary.
Byman notes that critics of the president would be happy to say good riddance, but Trump’s probable response to a loss at the polls should give us pause when it comes to the impact on right-wing terrorism. He regularly claims that millions of people vote illegally, all against him. “It is easy to imagine that he would make similar and perhaps far more elaborate claims, should the 2020 election lead to his defeat and repudiation,” Byman writes, adding:
The president himself has also, in the past, embraced conspiracy theories beyond voter fraud, ranging from the possible murder of Justice Antonin Scalia to vaccines causing autism…. After an election defeat, one could imagine him claiming that “people say” voting machines were fixed or Democrats suppressed Republican ballots, or making other absurd statements as a way to justify his defeat even if he does eventually surrender power without incident.
