Abstract
The divisiveness witnessed during Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, a nationwide discord on a scale not witnessed since the tumultuous Nixon-Humphrey-Wallace campaign of 1968, has necessitated an examination of hate within the United States. Characterized by rhetoric of nationalism and isolationism reminiscent of ideologies espoused by white nationalists, Trump’s campaign energized the American racist right. Indeed, the most prominent US-based white supremacist websites, the neo-Nazi Stormfront and The Daily Stormer, launched extensive online campaigns supporting Trump’s presidential bid, and both sites experienced dramatic increases in traffic. This essay examines some of the divisive rhetoric Trump employed during his presidential campaign and the various ways in which that rhetoric appears to have resonated with US-based white supremacists. Examining white supremacists’ Internet rhetoric enables persons to be alerted to the possibility of white supremacist advocacy or activity and to better understand how white supremacists attempt to form, or become a part of, a community of like-minded persons. While several acts of murderous violence in the United States have been associated with white supremacist content appearing online, examinations of US-based white supremacists’ Internet rhetoric may assist individuals, including law enforcement and homeland security professionals, in guarding against similar violence in the future.
Highlights
The divisiveness witnessed during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, a nationwide discord on a scale not witnessed since the tumultuous Nixon-Humphrey-Wallace campaign of 1968, has necessitated an examination of hate within the United States
To demonstrate how Trump’s divisive rhetoric resonated with the American racist right, a qualitative analysis was conducted of content appearing throughout the presidential campaign on the neo-Nazi websites Stormfront and The Daily Stormer, the two most prominent US-based white supremacist websites
For nearly half a century, the groundswell of support George Wallace was able to generate through his divisive campaign rhetoric leading up to the 1968 presidential election appeared to be a relic of the past, not to be witnessed again in the United States
Summary
The divisiveness witnessed during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, a nationwide discord on a scale not witnessed since the tumultuous Nixon-Humphrey-Wallace campaign of 1968, has necessitated an examination of hate within the United States. The pro-white and pro-segregationist rhetoric communicated by Wallace during his presidential bid helped to divide the nation at a time when many Americans had hoped the civil rights movement of the 1960s was lessening the divisions between persons of different racial and ethnic backgrounds living in the United States. Much like Wallace’s divisive rhetoric from his late 1960’s presidential campaign, the divisive rhetoric communicated by Donald Trump during his bid for the presidency incensed millions of Americans while garnering fervent support from millions of others, including individuals within the racist right (e.g., neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan, white nationalists). Given the divisiveness cultivated amongst communities throughout the United States during Trump’s presidential campaign, a divisiveness that has only intensified since Trump’s election as president, examinations of the rhetoric of the American racist right are critical more than ever. Particular attention will be afforded to the online campaigns in support of Trump’s presidency on the neo-Nazi websites Stormfront and The Daily Stormer, the two most prominent US-based white supremacist websites
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