As former President Ronald Reagan might have said, "Here we go again..."
The last time that Donald Trump was elected president, there was a spike in incidents of hate crimes.
Already, just a little over one week after Trump won another term in office, we have seen mass texts filled with racist slurs sent to thousands of people across the country. We have also seen white supremacist Nick Fuentes (who was just charged earlier today with assaulting a woman) declare on a social media post on X (formerly Twitter, now owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk) on November 5th (Election day) that clearly went viral “Your body, my choice. Forever.” It has been viewed over 90 million times. Not all of those views have been by people outraged over the post, either. There are reports that this has become a chant which teenage boys in a number of schools now apparently are hurling at teenage girls in their schools. It seems clear enough that this message is intended as a form of intimidation, with a threat pretty clearly insinuated.
Fuentes did not merely leave it there. In case some people might not have understood his overall point with such a post, he made it abundantly clear with his elaborations:
“Hey bitch, we control your bodies! Guess what? Guys win again. Okay? Men win again,” Fuentes continued in a blatantly misogynistic video spiel.
“There will never ever be a female president … It’s over. Glass ceiling? Dude, it’s the ceiling made of f–king bricks. You will never break it. Your stupid face keeps hitting the brick ceiling. We will keep you down forever. You will never control your own bodies.”
This was just one of the most influential of such social media posts, but it was hardly the only one. In fact, there has been a wave of them. Here, according to an article by Anna North of Vox, is another one:
Many of the sexist posts stem from “manosphere” influencers like Andrew Tate and their followers, according to the report — Tate, for example, posted on X on November 7, “I saw a woman crossing the road today but I just kept my foot down. Right of way? You no longer have rights.”
Charming, huh?
Now, there is still another incident that illustrates that violent young men (most likely young, in any case) are feeling emboldened to take matters into their own hands and loudly and proudly display their hatred and sense of entitlement.
During a showing of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ in one town in Michigan yesterday, a small group of masked men rallied nearby, holding Nazi flags and shouting anti-Semitic slurs. There are reports that many of those who attended the play were afraid to go out due to these neo-Nazis nearby.
Nobody is suggesting that Trump or anyone in his campaign is responsible or supports such actions. However, it nevertheless does feel a bit telling that such blatant demonstrations of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and anti-Semitism seem to spike once Trump gains political power. It sure feels like those who are violent and in favor of a more totalitarian state feel empowered and emboldened with Trump's political rise.
It does not help that Trump once hosted Nick Fuentes for dinner, who was brought in as a guest of Kanye West, for reasons which are, admittedly, unknown to me. Both of those men are controversial in their own right. Fuentes was already well known at that time for being a Holocaust-denier and posting blatantly racist stuff on social media. Much like with the neo-Nazis and blatant white supremacists who held that infamous rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, relatively early in Trump's first term, it seems that Trump has a hard time simply condemning such extremists white supremacists and hate mongers. Unless, that is, you include having them over for dinner as some kind of condemnation.
So far, I have not heard Trump or anyone from his campaign specifically condemn these kinds of hate crimes. Once again, it sure seems like Trump both brings and thrives on chaos. Already it has begun, despite there being still over two months before Trump officially takes the oath of office once again.
Below are the articles which I used in writing this blog entry, and which also seemed like good resources for people if they are not familiar with these stories, or what they mean:
“Your body, my choice”: The misogynist MAGA attack, explained Rape threats and other sexist posts are going viral after the election. It’s part of a pattern. by Anna North Nov 13, 2024, 3:25 PM ES
https://www.vox.com/politics/384792/your-body-my-choice-maga-gender-election
Women dox, vow revenge against far-right Nick Fuentes after ‘your body, my choice’ rant By Natalie Brown, News.com.au Published Nov. 13, 2024:
https://nypost.com/2024/11/13/us-news/far-right-extremist-nicholas-fuentes-doxxed-after-vile-election-rant/
Donald Trump dined with white nationalist, Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes by Meridith McGraw 11/25/2022:
The former president hosted Fuentes and Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago. He said it was “quick and uneventful.” Donald Trump and Kanye West pose for a picture. The dinner underscores how few guardrails currently exist within the former president’s political operation, with few aides there to screen guests or advise against and manage such gatherings.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/25/trump-white-nationalist-nick-fuentes-kanye-00070825
Demonstrators wave Nazi flags outside local theater performance of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ in Michigan Kathleen Magramo By Kathleen Magramo and Jillian Sykes, CNN, November 12, 2024:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/us/michigan-nazi-flags-anne-frank-theater/index.html
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