Far-right extremists celebrate, see opportunity in second Trump victory

“Good morning, Patriots. WE DID IT.”

That message greeted members of a Telegram channel for anti-government militias early Wednesday, encapsulating the celebratory mood of far-right extremists who see in Donald Trump an avatar of their dark vision for America.

Even before the race was called for Trump, triumphant messages began flowing on social media platforms across the spectrum of MAGA-aligned extremists. Anti-government militia groups, white nationalists, Proud Boys, Christian supremacists and QAnon-style conspiracy theorists all expressed a sense of jubilation mixed with an eagerness to exact vengeance on political opponents.

Though specific goals differ, there was broad agreement among the factions that Trump’s second win nudges the country much further right, putting once-fringe plans, such as mass deportations and erasing the separation of church and state, within reach. The win animated extremist talk about their potential role in dismantling democratic institutions, an ominous sign for researchers who saw Trump’s fiery rhetoric inspire vigilantism during his first presidency.

“That legitimized, normalized and sort of gave permission to extremist groups - who are really white supremacist and deeply misogynistic - to come out of the woodwork and feel validated,” said Cynthia Miller-Idriss, who leads the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab at American University. “We’re seeing that type of rhetoric again.”

Trump won the votes of millions of Americans, sweeping the swing states that have been called so far, and he is on track to win the popular vote. He also increased his margins across demographics, especially among Latino men, according to exit polls. Analysts have described the wide embrace of Trump-style nativism as a “mass radicalization” and warn that popular support for an agenda that overlaps with far-right goals emboldens a violent fringe.

In posts and videos, extremists savored the moment by blasting Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle” or Queen’s “We Are the Champions” as they gloated over “lib meltdowns” about the results. Conspiracy theories that right-wing activists had pushed for months about “rigged elections” evaporated overnight.

Christian supremacists urged followers to drop to their knees in prayerful gratitude for the defeat of the “Demon-crats” and for the victory of a man they say will usher in “Bible-based governance.” Others likened Trump’s return to the start of a modern-day American revolution: “45 + 47 = 1776.” Threats of executions and political violence were interspersed with extremist planning on how to influence policy now that a perceived ally was heading back to the White House.

“Step one: get power. Step two: wield it,” a Tennessee-based white nationalist posted on X.

There was particular glee in Trump’s takedown of Vice President Kamala Harris, whose gender and multiracial heritage were relentlessly attacked in the “manosphere,” a loose network of misogynistic communities with influence through gaming, social media and other cultural forces.

A network poll shows that 49 percent of men 18 to 29 voted for Trump; the number was 53 percent for men ages 30 to 39, an increase over 2020 results in both categories.

“Gender is the story of this election in a lot of ways,” Miller-Idriss said.

As Harris’s defeat became clear, dehumanizing attacks soon followed. Much of it spread unfettered on X, whose owner Elon Musk frequently expresses support for Trump using far-right rhetoric.

One popular meme depicted Trump as a garbage-truck driver - a reference to a moment on the campaign trail - hauling Harris into a trash compactor. Other posts, some of them with hundreds of thousands of views, dismissed women as “b----es” and babymakers who had been taught a lesson about challenging abortion bans and standing up to an “alpha male” like Trump.

Extremists focused on Black and Hispanic women for attack, bragging about preventing a “DEI hire” from leading the nation. They urged Oprah Winfrey and other famous Black women who supported Harris to leave the country, and they fantasized about dumping Hispanic women and children across the border in Mexico.

“As Toni Morrison said, fascism ‘is recognizable by its need to purge, by the strategies it uses to purge, and by its terror of truly democratic agendas,’” said Alexandria Onuoha, a researcher at Suffolk University in Boston who studies extremist targeting of Black women and girls. “Black women have been warning us about the nature of fascism for decades.”

Another sector rejoicing in Trump’s win is what MAGA extremists refer to as the “American gulag,” the defendants serving time or facing prosecution in connection with the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when mob violence erupted in rejection of Trump’s 2020 defeat.

Trump has long promised clemency for some defendants if he was reelected. The idea is anathema to federal prosecutors and civil rights groups who attribute a current lull in political violence in part to the deterrent effect of Jan. 6 prosecutions, including landmark convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders.

Hours after Trump’s win was declared, an attorney for Jan. 6 defendant Christopher Carnell filed in federal court to reschedule a hearing pending “further information from the Office of the President-elect regarding the timing and expected scope of clemency actions.” Court records show that Carnell was convicted in February of felony obstruction and four misdemeanors.

[Jan. 6 riot defendants celebrate Trump’s election, angle for pardons]

The request, which a judge denied, reflects the hope convicted rioters see in Trump’s return.

“Mr. Carnell, who was an 18 year old nonviolent entrant into the Capitol on January 6,” the court filing states, “is expecting to be relieved of the criminal prosecution that he is currently facing when the new administration takes office.”