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Even If Trump Loses, White Nationalists Say They’ve Won
“Trump has unleashed forces ― forces much bigger than he is ― that simply can’t be put back into the bottle.”
1 day ago | Updated 10 hours ago
Dana Liebelson Staff Reporter, The Huffington Post
Matt Ferner National Reporter, The Huffington Post
CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS
WASHINGTON ― Last month, several American white nationalists traveled to an anti-immigration conference in Wismar, Germany, and told attendants that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign represents a win for the movement ― even if he loses the election.
Official speakers at the event ― sponsored by an association of nationalistic parties in the European Union ― included Kevin MacDonald, a retired professor at California State University, Long Beach, who defends anti-Semitism, and Tom Sunic, who has spoken at meetings sponsored by Klansmen, Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis, and who was “serving as interpreter ... for a very classy private German audience,” he told The Huffington Post. William Johnson, a white nationalist who was briefly a Trump delegate, made an unscheduled address at the event.
Non-U.S. speakers included Frank Rennicke, a German singer-songwriter who is also a far-right extremist and Nick Griffin, a British politician who was once convicted of incitement to racial hatred. (Griffin “chewed all white activists out for not getting married and not having children,” Johnson said.)
The event focused on “the migrant crisis, the threat placed by Islamic terrorism and the negative developments in the European Union,” according to a brochure HuffPost translated from the original German. But the European nationalists were also interested in Trump, including what will happen if he is not elected. At the conference, Johnson said that Trump will only make white nationalists’ efforts “easier” and met “with more acceptance in the future,” he recalled. Sunic, who addressed audience questions about Trump, told HuffPost that as a “political phenomenon,” he “can no longer be stopped.”
Several American white nationalists gathered at an anti-immigrant conference in Germany last month.
There’s no doubt that Trump’s run for the nation’s highest office has energized white nationalists. In recent weeks, the KKK’s official newspaper has endorsed Trump, white supremacists have announced plans to monitor polling places, and Johnson launched a robo-call claiming that Evan McMullin, an independent presidential candidate who is competitive with Trump in Utah, is gay. (On Wednesday, he stopped the campaign and apologized.)
The Trump campaign called the KKK newspaper “repulsive” and said “their views do not represent the tens of millions of Americans who are uniting behind our campaign.” Regarding the robo-call, the campaign said: “We have no knowledge of these activities and strongly condemn any message of hate and any individuals associated with such.”
But white nationalists aren’t just gearing up for Election Day. As the German conference shows, they’re also eagerly planning their next moves.
“Trump has unleashed forces ― forces much bigger than he is ― that simply can’t be put back into the bottle,” said Richard Spencer, head of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think tank. Those who wish for a “reset” and for the national political discourse to return to normal after Trump are “going to be severely disappointed,” he added.
“Trump has unleashed forces ― forces much bigger than he is ― that simply can’t be put back into the bottle.”
1 day ago | Updated 10 hours ago
Dana Liebelson Staff Reporter, The Huffington Post
Matt Ferner National Reporter, The Huffington Post
CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS
WASHINGTON ― Last month, several American white nationalists traveled to an anti-immigration conference in Wismar, Germany, and told attendants that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign represents a win for the movement ― even if he loses the election.
Official speakers at the event ― sponsored by an association of nationalistic parties in the European Union ― included Kevin MacDonald, a retired professor at California State University, Long Beach, who defends anti-Semitism, and Tom Sunic, who has spoken at meetings sponsored by Klansmen, Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis, and who was “serving as interpreter ... for a very classy private German audience,” he told The Huffington Post. William Johnson, a white nationalist who was briefly a Trump delegate, made an unscheduled address at the event.
Non-U.S. speakers included Frank Rennicke, a German singer-songwriter who is also a far-right extremist and Nick Griffin, a British politician who was once convicted of incitement to racial hatred. (Griffin “chewed all white activists out for not getting married and not having children,” Johnson said.)
The event focused on “the migrant crisis, the threat placed by Islamic terrorism and the negative developments in the European Union,” according to a brochure HuffPost translated from the original German. But the European nationalists were also interested in Trump, including what will happen if he is not elected. At the conference, Johnson said that Trump will only make white nationalists’ efforts “easier” and met “with more acceptance in the future,” he recalled. Sunic, who addressed audience questions about Trump, told HuffPost that as a “political phenomenon,” he “can no longer be stopped.”
Several American white nationalists gathered at an anti-immigrant conference in Germany last month.
There’s no doubt that Trump’s run for the nation’s highest office has energized white nationalists. In recent weeks, the KKK’s official newspaper has endorsed Trump, white supremacists have announced plans to monitor polling places, and Johnson launched a robo-call claiming that Evan McMullin, an independent presidential candidate who is competitive with Trump in Utah, is gay. (On Wednesday, he stopped the campaign and apologized.)
The Trump campaign called the KKK newspaper “repulsive” and said “their views do not represent the tens of millions of Americans who are uniting behind our campaign.” Regarding the robo-call, the campaign said: “We have no knowledge of these activities and strongly condemn any message of hate and any individuals associated with such.”
But white nationalists aren’t just gearing up for Election Day. As the German conference shows, they’re also eagerly planning their next moves.
“Trump has unleashed forces ― forces much bigger than he is ― that simply can’t be put back into the bottle,” said Richard Spencer, head of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think tank. Those who wish for a “reset” and for the national political discourse to return to normal after Trump are “going to be severely disappointed,” he added.
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