How a War Correspondent Understands Far-Right Extremism | The New Yorker

How a War Correspondent Understands Far-Right Extremism

Luke Mogelson discusses his new book, “The Storm Is Here: An American Crucible,” and the precarious future of democracy.

via The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/newsletter/the-daily/how-a-war-correspondent-understands-far-right-extremism

I was surprised by how frightened many Americans on the far right are. I was prepared for the anger, but I hadn’t really understood the extent to which fear precedes it. I was in Nashville on Christmas when Anthony Warner, who believed that alien lizards disguised as human beings roamed the planet, blew himself up downtown. That’s an extreme example, but so many people I met at anti-lockdown protests, pro-Trump events, and Stop the Steal rallies told me that they were genuinely terrified of their fellow-citizens on the left, especially after the uprising in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.