On Nov. 5, 2024, United States citizens will vote to elect candidates to political office. Since 2016, white nationalist extremism has exponentially increased in the United States. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace points to the 2020 election as a time when political violence became more broadly acceptable among extremists, including the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Tina-Desiree Berg, a journalist with Status Coup, says that America has been in a tightening cycle of extremism for several years now and it has not abated. Berg described how this cycle functions as reactionary politics become grounded in income inequality and married to deeply racist and antisemitic viewpoints.
Rebecca Sewall, a Gender and Government Specialist who has worked on similar issues overseas that were funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), expressed her concern when she spoke with The Wire.
“After Jan. 6, suddenly the U.S. can’t be talking about political violence, their whole moral authority …having worked in governance issues in other parts of the world, it never occurred to me that we would be in this position,” Sewall said.
In 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center tracked 41 anti-government and hate groups in Washington state. While the federal government lacks an official definition of political extremism, extremists hold polarized political beliefs. The Department of Homeland Security warns that perceptions of the 2024 election and sociopolitical decisions may incite violence, with likely targets including critical infrastructure, faith-based institutions, LGBTQ+ individuals or events, schools, racial and ethnic minorities and government personnel.
“One aspect that seldom gets discussed is extremists that identify as accelerationists. These are individuals who want to bring the government down so that it can be replaced with something more to their liking, which, in general, is a white nationalist or fascist state. These are individuals who have given up on democracy because they realize they will never succeed in creating the policies they want via democracy, and there are plenty of opportunities for them to engage in activity around elections,” Berg said.
According to the Center for International and Strategic Studies, right-wing extremists are increasingly using the internet and social media to issue propaganda statements, coordinate training (including combat training) and organize travel to attend protests and other events. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) argues that participants in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol received and sent social media messages related to the event before, during and after it occurred.
A 2021 Washington Post analysis showed that an increasing number of extremists were willing to act on their beliefs in violent ways. Berg attributes the worsening of extremism to sites such as Telegram and Discord — and newcomer SimpleX — where these individuals can meet in private and semi-private spaces with like-minded individuals or get further radicalized.
A survey conducted by Issue One found that the majority of Americans (58 percent) are extremely or very concerned that groups will use social media to incite violence after the election. Nearly two-thirds of Harris supporters (65 percent) and a majority of Trump supporters (55 percent) are very worried about groups using social media to incite post-election violence.
“I’ve been worried since Jan. 6. It’s frightening. I’ve thought about moving overseas: I’ve thought about what would happen not so much here in Massachusetts,” Sewall said.
In a recommendation by Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), he noted that social media companies should take more aggressive steps to limit the free rein of electoral conspiracy theories on their platforms, and they should take aggressive stances against AI-enabled disinformation and deepfakes, particularly as they concern political figures. His article urges policymakers and commentators from all political sides to challenge the widespread portrayal of the Jan. 6 defendants as heroes or martyrs, aiming to strengthen deterrence against future political violence.
According to Berg, the Department of Justice has been very concerned about the upcoming election. She says their mandate needs to remain nonpartisan if they are to apply the law universally. In a news article by CNN, the FBI stated that it is aware that some individuals may be motivated to commit violence or other illegal activity, and they are fully engaged with their partners to protect the communities.
