Brutkey

Thomas Zimmer
@tzimmer_history@mastodon.social

However, the first Trump presidency did not bring about the comprehensive undoing of all the racial and social change the Right disdains so much. Instead, it ended with millions of people protesting against racist police violence in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

Thomas Zimmer
@tzimmer_history@mastodon.social

To the Right, the mass mobilization of a multi-racial coalition was not a glimpse of a necessary racial reckoning, but the harbinger of national doom. The summer of 2020 was yet another in a series of inflection points that further escalated the perception of imminent threat.

Thomas Zimmer
@tzimmer_history@mastodon.social

The general sentiment that traditional conservatism needs to be replaced by a much more radical form of politics to answer the “leftist” challenge is now being echoed across the Right. People at the center of rightwing politics are now rejecting the label “conservatism” outright.

Thomas Zimmer
@tzimmer_history@mastodon.social

What unites all factions on the Trumpist Right is the belief that a “leftist” revolution has already taken place, the radical “Left” has taken over the major institutions of American life. As there is nothing left to conserve, nothing short of a radical “counter-revolution” can save the nation.

Thomas Zimmer
@tzimmer_history@mastodon.social

The Right’s political and intellectual leaders believe they are engaged in a noble war for the “soul,” the identity, the very existence of the nation. If the stakes are so high, moderation, restraint, and patience are not an option. There is no line they don’t feel justified to cross.