Today, following a speech from Hillary Clinton in Reno, Nevada on how the Trump campaign has taken a hate movement mainstream, Hillary for America released a report on Donald Trump’s embrace of a disturbing, extreme set of views echoed by white nationalists and conspiracy theorists who refer to themselves as “Alt-Right.” As the Southern Poverty Law Center has explained, this movement consists of “a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief is that ‘white identity’ is under attack by multicultural forces using ‘political correctness’ and ‘social justice’ to undermine white people and ‘their’ civilization.” This divisive and dystopian view of America should concern all Americans, regardless of party affiliation.
The new report examines how Donald Trump and his campaign have lifted up a hate movement in a way no modern mainstream presidential campaign has before. In addition to launching his campaign for president by branding Mexicans immigrants rapists and criminals, Trump led the movement to question the legitimacy of the first African-American President, has amplified the voices of white supremacists online and has a troubling history of housing discrimination.
With the hiring of Steve Bannon as his campaign CEO – a man who proudly proclaimed just weeks ago that his media company, Breitbart, is the “platform for the Alt-Right” – Trump has given an official leadership role to a hateful, fringe conservative movement. This new report looks closely at the dangerous philosophies championed by Donald Trump, his advisors and the Alt-Right.
