Trump’s Hunt for Antifa Is Already Falling Apart
Antifa, be warned: The Trump administration is coming to your rescue, but first it needs to talk to podcasters.
Conservative podcaster Glenn Beck insisted Monday that the FBI was turning over “every stone” to locate members of the notorious decentralized anti-fascist movement — a fact he became aware of when they allegedly arrived at his door to discuss a recent series he did on the so-called antifa network.
“We dove headfirst and analyzed the Antifa network, and we went from street thugs to support groups and ultimately funding. To say the FBI was interested in it would perhaps be an understatement,” Beck said. said. “It’s very clear to me that they are exploring every angle of the issue and talking to anyone who can provide them with any type of information.”
“How do I know? Saturday I get a phone call,” Beck continued, recalling the conversation.
“The director would like to send some agents to speak with you, Glenn. » I say to myself: “The director? FBI agents? “Yes, you said some things that they need to talk to you about. »
The fact that Beck could attract the attention of FBI Director Kash Patel should come as no surprise, especially since Patel hosted his own conspiratorial political opinion show before being tasked with running America’s top investigative agency.
“They sat in my living room for almost two hours,” Beck said. “It was surreal at one point.”
For years, Donald Trump and his allies have promoted the idea that violent far-left radicals are wreaking havoc in cities across the country, but their rhetoric is conspicuously devoid of evidence. To quiet the noise, members of the House Intelligence Committee request the CIA and FBI in 2020 to investigate fake intelligence campaigns and find evidence of the anti-fascist group’s alleged “invasion.” Despite reports contrary to Trump’s rhetoric, the noise has not quieted.
Last week, Trump designated Antifa is considered a “domestic terrorist organization,” despite the fact that antifascists fail to commit a fraction of the violence that the far-right extremists they oppose do.
“Antifa is a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States government, law enforcement, and our system of law,” Trump’s order states.
But Trump’s action ignored the fact that he does not have the power to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization – that power rests with Congress. And critics have warned that this could be just the beginning, as the White House moves to more broadly quell political opposition to its immigration agenda, as evidenced by Trump’s decision to send in the National Guard to quell suspected disorders in the hipster paradise of Portland, Oregon, or by the elevation of rhetoric that has group fervor against antifa with legitimate political parties, such as the Democratic Socialists of America.
