How Extremists Weaponize Irony To Spread Hate
On a recent episode of his livestreamed show, the 22-year-old extremist Nick Fuentes repeated a formula that has won him a following with some of the youngest members of the far right. He went on an extended, violent and misogynistic rant, only to turn to the camera and add with a smirk, "Just joking!"
In this case, from the
April 22 edition of Fuentes' show,
America First, a viewer wrote in to ask Fuentes for advice on how to "punish" his wife for "getting out of line."
Fuentes responded, "Why don't you smack her across the face?"
The rant continued for minutes.
"Why don't you give her a vicious and forceful backhanded slap with your knuckles right across her face — disrespectfully — and make it hurt?" Fuentes went on. At one point, he pantomimed punching a woman in the face.
He then added, "No, I'm kidding, of course. Just kidding. Just a joke."
Fuentes was following a playbook popular among domestic extremists: using irony and claims of "just joking" to spread their message, while deflecting criticism.
Researchers who track domestic extremism say the tactic, while not new, has helped several groups mask their danger, avoid consequences and draw younger people into their movements.
Irony as "cover" for extremism
Fuentes is best known for using cartoonish memes to spread white supremacist propaganda. His followers refer to themselves as "Groypers" — a reference to a mutated version of the
Pepe the Frog cartoon that was co-opted by the far right. Though Fuentes exists on the fringes of the extreme right, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.,
spoke at a political conference that Fuentes hosted, drawing widespread criticism.
freedomnews.org.uk
