What Is the Alt-right and Has It Made Its Way Into the White House?

The 2016 U.S. presidential election was unprecedented in many ways. Among these was the emergence of a movement known as the alt-right. What many Americans don't understand is where it came from, who its adherents are and how it is influencing the course of our nation.

What Is the Alt-right?

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an anti-hate organization, provided the following definition of the alt-right.

The Alternative Right, commonly known as the Alt-Right, is a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals whose core belief is that “white identity” is under attack by multicultural forces using “political correctness” and “social justice” to undermine white people and “their” civilization. Characterized by heavy use of social media and online memes, Alt-Righters eschew “establishment” conservatism, skew young, and embrace white ethno-nationalism as a fundamental value.

The Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish non-governmental organization, characterized alt-righters as those who "reject modern conservatism explicitly because they believe that mainstream conservatives are not advocating for the interests of white people as a group."

In an interview for the Washington Post, George Hawley, a University of Alabama professor who studied the movement, described typical alt-right followers as white millennial men, either in college or with a college degree who are secular, perhaps atheist, and are not interested in the conservative movement at all.

Where Did It Come From?

The term "alternative right" was coined in 2008 by Richard Bertrand Spencer, head of a white nationalist think tank known as the National Policy Institute. Spencer launched an online publication with the name of "Alternative Right" in 2010.

Other terms used to describe the alt-right include “New Right” and the “Dissident Right,” among many others. While their names are varied and include numerous ideological groups, white identity is a central theme of alt-righters. They also generally reject democracy, egalitarianism, multiculturalism and universalism.

Where Is the Movement Headed?

Before the 2016 presidential election, the term alt-right was relatively unknown, and many who were familiar mostly associated it with internet trolling.

The alt-right captured national attention when Donald Trump appointed Stephen Bannon as CEO of his presidential campaign. Bannon, who was a chairman of Breitbart Media, proudly told investigative reporter Sarah Posner at the Republican National Convention that “We’re the platform for the alt-right.”

In a CNN interview on August 25, 2016, anchor Anderson Cooper grilled Trump on a comment Bannon made about Breitbart being the voice for the alt-right. Trump responded, “I can only speak for myself.”

On November 13, 2016, Trump announced Bannon would serve as chief strategist and senior counselor.

A week later, alt-righter Richard Spencer gathered to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory, in a video published on YouTube by “Red Ice Radio,” Spencer is shown declaring, “Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!” After which some audience members can be seen raising their right hand in what appears to be a Nazi salute.

In response, Trump told a group of reporters and columnists during a meeting at The New York Times headquarters, “I don’t want to energize the group, and I disavow the group.” He went on to say, “It’s not a group I want to energize, and if they are energized, I want to look into it and find out why.”

When asked about Bannon’s ties to the alt-right, Trump defended Bannon stating, “I’ve known him for a long time and the allegations of antisemitism and connections to the alt-right are not him.” He went on to say, “If I thought he was racist or alt-right . . . I wouldn’t even think about hiring him.”

One member of the alt-right movement who rose to prominence proliferating the ideology is Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin. In his article, “A Normie’s Guide to the Alt-Right,” he laid out the common themes of the alt-right movement, misogyny, antisemitism, racism, and white nationalism. In discussing the future of the alt-right, Anglin wrote:

To become a real and effective political force, the Alt-Right will need real leaders. Real leaders are not people that stand-up and claim to be leaders, but people that the masses naturally want to follow.

Following Trump’s victory, Anglin declared, “Our Glorious Leader has ascended to God Emperor. Make no mistake about it: we did this.”

After Bannon was appointed as chief strategist and senior counselor, Angler wrote, “I probably would have preferred Bannon as chief-of-staff and Priebus as press secretary.” While neither Trump nor Bannon admitted any direct ties to the alt-right, it's clear the alt-right was nothing but supportive of them.

The alt-right is a determined and energetic group and their popularity continues to grow. In the words of Anglin, "the mob is the movement," and they have their mob.

With Donald Trump in the White House, the mob now has a leader who they believe validates their views and in the form of Stephen Bannon, may even be sympathetic to their ideology. If misogyny, antisemitism, racism and white nationalism are the same beliefs that have historically led to violence and genocides, then the alt-right has the momentum, exposure, and ideology to repeat some of our darkest moments in history.

What Is Glenn's Point of View?

Glenn shared his thoughts on the alt-right movement on his October 28, 2016 radio program, when the movement was just beginning to gain media attention. Below are excerpts from his monologue:

Rising From Chaos

This alt-right is, burn the entire thing down. And out of the ashes of global chaos, we will rise. And the true alt-right, as it is understood in Russia and Europe and more so here in America, not by Trump or Trump supporters, but it is understood by people like Breitbart and Bannon. And I can say that because they've announced it and printed it themselves.

I'm issuing this warning. I'm telling you, this is as important as the warning that I gave before the collapse in '08 and the warning that I gave on the caliphate.

Beyond Generalizations

This is going to require you to see new nuance and to see beyond generalizations. And that's what's going to make the alt-right so dangerous in the future.

Over in Europe, there are now Russian operatives that are training those in the alt-right how to fight, how to -- they're even arming them, giving them guns, and training them on how to cause chaos and terror. And you need to understand the role of Vladimir Putin.

I want to give very hasty generalizations. We'll get into this after the election with the chalkboard. I want you to know, this has nothing to do with Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. This would be happening if Ted Cruz were the nominee today. It is vital that you understand this, because this is something that we're going to be battling over the next, I don't know how many years. This is as important as the understanding of the caliphate.

But I want to give you quick generalization on how you know you're in the company of one of these people or one of these people who have been influenced, perhaps without their own knowledge.

One of the things, when you read on Facebook, if you see the word "cuckservative," run. That is an alt-right word. And it is -- it is -- it's everywhere now. And people have adopted it online. Don't adopt it. It is a word that is a tell on who is influencing the mind of these people.

There's also other things that are much less apparent, if you're just wrapped into the world of us and them.

Globalists and Cuckservatives

Globalist is now a term to describe anyone. Notice anyone who is for free trade, is now a globalist. People who were deep -- deeply respected intellectual conservatives. Krauthammer, George Will, they're now cuckservatives and globalists?

Jonah Goldberg is now a globalist. I am now a globalist. That word is being thrown around everywhere. But it's thrown around by people who are in the alt-right. For instance, what's his crazy face? Alex Jones, okay? This was the world -- everybody was, "Globalist. Globalist." But now it's spread. That's from the alt-right. And you need to be careful.

There are many words and ideas and people that are being mainstreamed, quite honestly, by Breitbart. And this is out in the open. They say it.

Platform for the Alt-right

Steve Bannon has said, "We are a platform for the alt-right." They have become a platform.

Richard Spencer. Look him up. That's who Breitbart says is the main thinker for the alt-right. And we are a platform for the alt-right. Steve Bannon, exact quote.

Spencer's wife is the English language translator for Aleksandr Dugin. This is tied directly, in America, to Dugin and Putin.

Origins of the Movement

The movement's origins are traced back to the opposition, and I think some of it justifiable of George W. Bush, especially the invasion of Iraq.

I am a noninterventionist. I don't think we need to be intervening everywhere. There are times that we do. But that's a case-by-case basis. I think many of the problems are because we went in and said, "We'll give you freedom." And so we have become interventionists. We are the world's policemen.

Now, there's a difference between that -- globalist -- and an isolationist. An isolationist is also claiming that everyone who is against them is a globalist.

Deadly Subtleties

Be careful. The subtleties here are deadly. They are suspicious of free markets. They believe that business interests are in conflict to what they view as higher ideals, those of cultural preservation. They use the word "traditionalism, identism." On Breitbart, Milo Yiannopoulos, has issued a manifesto of what sorts of groups he believes are their allies and which ones are not. It's Beltway conservatives. They say hate the alt-right more than Democrats or progressives.

Please do not laugh this off. Please do not dismiss this. I am going to -- after we get past -- hopefully we do -- this election, hopefully we can return to a place to where we can all talk again. But please inform yourself. After the election, I'm going to be doing stuff and chalkboards on this. And even if it's five people that are paying attention to this, those five, you need to strap on the armor. Because it will mean the difference between conservatives surviving or not.

I want you do inform yourself on Neo-Eurasianism. Also, the forth political theory and Aleksandr Dugin.

Deep Roots of Division and Hatred

The campaign season has allowed the alt-right and these operatives to plant deep roots among us because they thrive in division and hatred. But it doesn't matter who would have been the candidate. This is a powerful force. It is an outside force. And it is -- if we remain blind, it will be the winning force. These are not Trump supporters. Some are masquerading as Trump supporters. And they are infecting the entire conservative movement. But they were here long before Trump even thought of running. I don't believe Trump is involved or knows -- is aware of this, would take seriously the roots.

Clinton, I don't believe is aware of this. And here's what's going to happen: The left and the media will eventually lump these people with all conservatives, if we don't self-identify, know who they are, understand their philosophy, their plan, and can articulate it to our friend.

Grave Danger to Freedom

These people are a great, grave danger to the republic and to the freedom of the West. And they have already infiltrated the American right.

In some cases, as we pointed out two years ago, they have already funneled money into the American churches. That began with the gay marriage debate because this is what they do. They find the things where they can join in, but their version of the gay marriage debate is radically different than your version of the gay marriage debate. You might say, "Hey, it's none of the government's business, and I want my church to be able to stand up and say this is wrong." Their version is, "Take away the driver's license of gay people. Gay people should be destroyed."

What's happening in Europe and what is happening mainly in -- in Russia -- and you might say, "We'll never fall for that." But when anger is involved, look at what historically we have fallen for. The rounding up of the Japanese. "We would never do that." We already have.

What do clay pots have to do with to preserving American history?

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Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Why should we preserve our nation’s history? If you listen to my radio program and podcast, or read my columns and books, you know I’ve dedicated a large part of my life and finances to sourcing and preserving priceless artifacts that tell America’s story. I’ve tried to make these artifacts as available as possible through the American Journey Experience Museum, just across from the studios where I do my daily radio broadcast. Thousands of you have come through the museum and have been able to see and experience these artifacts that are a part of your legacy as an American.

The destruction of American texts has already begun.

But why should people like you and me be concerned about preserving these things from our nation's history? Isn’t that what the “big guys” like the National Archives are for?

I first felt a prompting to preserve our nation's history back in 2008, and it all started with clay pots and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1946, a Bedouin shepherd in what is now the West Bank threw a rock into a cave nestled into the side of a cliff near the Dead Sea. Instead of hearing an echo, he heard the curious sound of a clay pot shattering. He discovered more than 15,000 Masoretic texts from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D.

These texts weren’t just a priceless historical discovery. They were virtually perfect copies of the same Jewish texts that continue to be translated today. Consider the significance of that discovery. Since the third century B.C. when these texts were first written, the Jewish people have endured a continued onslaught of diasporas, persecutions, pressures to conform to their occupying power, the destruction of their temple, and so much more. They had to fight for their identity as a people for centuries, and finally, a year after the end of the Holocaust and a year before the founding of the nation of Israel, these texts were discovered, confirming the preservation and endurance of their heritage since ancient times — all due to someone putting these clay pots in a desert cave more than 2,000 years ago.

I first felt a prompting to preserve our nation's history back in 2008, and it all started with clay pots and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So, what do these clay pots have to do with the calling to preserve American history? I didn’t understand that prompting myself until the horrible thought dawned on me that the people we are fighting against may very well take our sacred American scriptures, our Declaration of Independence, and our Bill of Rights. What if they are successful, and 1,000 years from now, we have no texts preserved to confirm our national identity? What kind of new history would be written over the truth?

The destruction of American texts has already begun. The National Archives has labeled some of our critical documents, like our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, as “triggering” or “containing harmful language.” In a public statement, the National Archives said that the labels help prepare readers to view potentially distressing content:

The Catalog and web pages contain some content that may be harmful or difficult to view. NARA’s records span the history of the United States, and it is our charge to preserve and make available these historical records. As a result, some of the materials presented here may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions. In addition, some of the materials may relate to violent or graphic events and are preserved for their historical significance.

According to this statement, our founding documents are either “outdated, biased, offensive,” “possibly violent,” or a combination of these scathing descriptions. I’m sorry, the Declaration of Independence is not “triggering.” Our Constitution is not “outdated and biased,” and our Bill of Rights certainly is not “offensive and possibly violent.” They are glorious documents. They should be celebrated, not qualified by such derogatory, absurd language. Shame on them.

These are only the beginning stages of rewriting our history. What if they start banning these “triggering” documents from public view because they might offend somebody? Haven’t we torn down “triggering” statues before? What if we are no longer able to see, read, and study the actual words of our nation's founding documents because they are “harmful” or “possibly violent”? A thousand years from now, will there be any remnant to piece together the true spirit behind the nation that our founders envisioned?

The Declaration of Independence is not “triggering.”

That is why in 2008, I was prompted to preserve what I could. Now, the American Journey Experience Museum includes more than 160,000 artifacts, from founding-era documents to the original Roe v. Wade court papers. We need to preserve the totality of our nation’s heritage, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We need to preserve our history in our own clay pots.

I ask you to join with me on this mission. Start buying books that are important to preserve. Buy some acid-free paper and start printing some of the founding documents, the reports that go against the mainstream narrative, the studies that prove what is true as we are continually being fed lies. Start preserving our daily history as well as our history because it is being rewritten and digitized.

Somebody must have a copy of what is happening now and what has happened in the past. I hope things don’t get really bad. But if they do, we need to preserve our heritage. Perhaps, someone 1,000 years from now will discover our clay pots and, Lord willing, be able to have a glimpse of America as it truly was.

Top 10 WORST items in the new $1.2 TRILLION spending bill

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Biden just signed the newest spending bill into law, and Glenn is furious.

Under Speaker Johnson's leadership, the whopping $1.2 TRILLION package will use your taxpayer dollars to fund the government through September. Of course, the bill is loaded with earmarks and pork that diverts money to fund all sorts of absurd side projects.

Here is the list of the ten WORST uses of taxpayer money in the recently passed spending bill:

Funding venues to host drag shows, including ones that target children

David McNew / Contributor | Getty Images

Money for transgender underwear for kids

Funding for proms for 12 to 18 year old kids

Bethany Clarke / Stringer | Getty Images

Border security funding... for Jordan and Egypt

Another $300 million for Ukraine

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

$3.5 million for Detroit's annual Thanksgiving Day parade

Icon Sportswire / Contributor | Getty Images

$2.5 million for a new kayaking facility in Franklin, New Hampshire

Acey Harper / Contributor | Getty Images

$2.7 million for a bike park in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, a town with a population of less than 2,300 people

$5 million for a new trail at Coastal Carolina University

$4 million the "Alaska King Crab Enhancement Project" (whatever that means)

FRED TANNEAU / Stringer | Getty Images

There is no doubt about it—we are entering dark times.

The November presidential election is only a few months away, and following the chaos of the 2020 election, the American people are bracing for what is likely to be another tumultuous election year. The left's anti-Trump rhetoric is reaching an all-time high with the most recent "Bloodbath" debacle proving how far the media will go to smear the former president. That's not to mention the Democrats' nearly four-year-long authoritarian attempt to jail President Trump or stop his re-election by any means necessary, even if it flies in the face of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, Biden is doing worse than ever. He reportedly threw a tantrum recently after being informed that his polls have reached an all-time low. After Special Counsel Robert Hur's report expressed concerns over Biden's obviously failing mental agility, it's getting harder for the Democrats to defend him. Yet he is still the Democratic nominee for November, promising another 4 years of catastrophic policies, from the border to heavy-handed taxation, should he be reelected.

The rest of the world isn't doing much better. The war in Ukraine has no clear end in sight, drawing NATO and Russia closer and closer to conflict. The war in Gaza is showing no sign of slowing down, and as Glenn revealed recently, its continuation may be a sign that the end times are near.

One thing is clear: we are living in uncertain times. If you and your family haven't prepared for the worst, now is the time. You can start by downloading "Glenn's Ultimate Guide to Getting Prepared." Be sure to print off a copy or two. If the recent cell outage proved anything, it's that technology is unreliable in survival situations. You can check your list of supplies against our "Ultimate Prepper Checklist for Beginners," which you can find below:

Food

  • Canned food/non-perishable foods
  • Food preparation tools
  • Go to the next level: garden/livestock/food production

Water

  • Non-perishable water store
  • Water purification
  • Independent water source

Shelter

  • Fireplace with a wood supply
  • Tent
  • Generator with fuel supply
  • Go to the next level: fallout shelter

Money

  • Emergency cash savings
  • Precious metals

Medicine

  • Extra blankets
  • Basic first aid
  • Extra prescriptions
  • Extra glasses
  • Toiletries store
  • Trauma kit
  • Antibiotics
  • Basic surgery supplies
  • Potassium Iodate tablets

Transportation

  • Bicycle
  • Car
  • Extra fuel

Information

  • Birth certificates
  • Insurance cards
  • Marriage license
  • Immunization records
  • Mortgage paperwork
  • Car title and registration
  • House keys, car keys
  • Passports
  • Family emergency plan
  • Prepping/survival/repair manuals
  • Go to the next level: copy of the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and other important books/sources

Skills

  • Cooking
  • Gardening
  • Sewing
  • First Aid
  • Basic maintenance skills
  • Go to the next level: farming/ranching
  • Self-defense training

Communication

  • Family contact information and addresses
  • HAM radio

Miscellaneous

  • Flashlights and batteries
  • Lamps and fuel
  • Hardware (tools, nails, lumber, etc)
  • Extra clothes
  • Extreme weather clothes and gear
  • Gas masks and filters
  • Spare parts for any machinery/equipment

Is Trump's prosecution NORMAL?  This COMPLETE list of ALL Western leaders who served jail time proves otherwise.

PhotoQuest / Contributor, The Washington Post / Contributor, Win McNamee / Staff | Getty Images

Mainstream media is on a crusade to normalize Donald Trump's indictments as if it's on par with the electoral course. Glenn asked his team to research every instance of a Western leader who was jailed during their political career over the past 200 years—except extreme political turmoil like the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, Irish Revolution, etc.—and what we discovered was quite the opposite.

Imprisoning a leader or major political opponent is not normal, neither in the U.S. nor in the Western world. Within the last 200 years, there are only a handful of examples of leaders in the West serving jail time, and these men were not imprisoned under normal conditions. All of these men were jailed under extreme circumstances during times of great peril such as the Civil War, World War II, and the Cold War.

What does this mean for America? Are Trump's indictments evidence that we are re-entering times of great peril? Below is a list of Western leaders who were imprisoned within the last 200 years. Take a look and decide for yourself:

Late 1800s

The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

Jefferson Davis: The nearest occurrence to a U.S. President to serve jail time was in the case of Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America. Jefferson was captured in Georgia by Northern Soldiers in 1865 and locked up in Fort Monroe, Virginia for two years. He was offered a presidential pardon but refused out of his loyalty to the confederacy.

Early 1900s

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Eugene V. Debs: Debbs, a Midwestern socialist leader, became the first person to run for president in prison. He was locked up at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta having been convicted under the federal Sedition Act for giving an antiwar speech a few months before Armistice Day, the end of World War I. Many of his supporters believed his imprisonment to be unjust. Debs received 897,704 votes and was a distant third-part candidate behind Warren G. Harding, the Republican winner, and James M. Cox, the second-place Democrat. Harding ordered Debs’s release from prison toward the end of 1921.

Nazi sympathizers and collaborators: After the end of World War II in 1945, several European leaders who had "led" their countries during the Nazi occupation faced trial and imprisonment for treason. This list included Chief of the French State Philippe Pétain, French Prime Minister Pierre Laval, and Minister-President of Norway Vidkun Quisling. The latter two were also executed after their imprisonment. President of Finland Risto Ryti and Prime Minister of Finland Johan Wilhelm Rangell were also tried and jailed for collaborating with the Nazis against the Allied Powers.

Late 1900s

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The end of the Cold War: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was one of the pivotal moments that brought the Cold War to a close and marked the end of Communist East Germany. With the fall of the wall and the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), the former leaders were brought to trial to answer for the crimes committed by the GDR. General Secretary Erich Honecker and General Secretary Egon Krenz were both put on trial for abuse of power and the deaths of those who were shot trying to flee into West Germany. Honecker was charged with jail time but was released from custody due to severe illness and lived out the rest of his life as an exile in Chile. Krenz served 4 years in jail before his release in 2001. He is one of the last surviving leaders of the Eastern Bloc.

Lyndon LaRouche: Larouche was a Trotsky evangelist, public antisemite, and founder of a nationwide Marxist political movement, became the second person in U.S. history to run for President in a prison cell. Granted, he ran in every election from 1976 to 2004 as a long-shot third-party candidate. When he tried to gain the Democratic presidential nomination, he received 5 percent of the total nationwide vote. Even though in 2000 he received enough primary votes to qualify for delegates in a few states, the Democratic National Committee refused to seat his delegates and barred LaRouche from attending the Democratic National Convention.