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Sep 17, 17

“Mother of All Rallies” Flops, Attracts Alt-Right and Neo-Nazi Groups from ‘Unite the Right’

The long touted “Mother of All Rallies” or MOAR, was aimed at bringing together upwards of 1 million Trump supporters out to Washington DC in support of Donald Trump. The event attracted several members of the Alt-Lite, including Jack Posobiec and Joey Gibson (who claimed onstage that antifascists were “attacking grandmas”), and a variety of neo-Nazi, Alt-Right, militia, and white nationalist groups and individuals. Neither Trump nor any elected officials attended the event. The rally itself ended up being a massive flop, bringing together only several hundred Trump supporters and was dwarfed in size to the much larger Juggalo March.

At one point during the rally, someone from Black Lives Matter (who had come to protest) was allowed to speak from the stage in an attempt to show just how committed to “free speech” the organizers were. However the BLM speaker roasted Trump, leading African-American pro-Trump livestreamer Will Johnson to then lead the crowd in chants of “USA! USA!” Alt-Lite troll and professional liar Jack Posobiec went on to claim over Twitter that William was in fact a part of BLM.

In the wake of Charlottesville, rally organizers claimed that they were not going to allow any sort of racist, Alt-Right, neo-Nazi, or white nationalist groups to attend, however members of the Proud Boys and their ‘military division’ the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights (FOAK) were seen throughout the event along with other Alt-Right formations.

Both the Proud Boys and FOAK have attempted to distance themselves from the Alt-Right after Charlottesville, despite the fact that members of both groups were out at the neo-Nazi ‘Unite the Right’ rally on August 12th which saw fascists attack unarmed students and also murder 32 year old antifascist, Heather Heyer. Jason Kessler, the lead organizer of the Unite the Right protest is a member of the Proud Boys, and members of FOAK also conducted security for neo-Nazi speakers.

Other neo-Nazis and Alt-Right groups that were present at Unite the Right made an appearance at MOAR. This includes ‘Anti-Communist Action,’ a violent paramilitary like organization that mimics FOAK in their drive to attack and engage in violence against antifascists. In leaked Discord chat room discussions, Unicorn Riot has shown that members of Anti-Communist Action were also involved in the organizing of Unite the Right.

Baked Alaska’s bodyguard, a member of the Oath Keepers who was also at Unite the Right, was in attendance at MOAR, as were a loose collection of Alt-Right trolls flying 4chan “Kekistan” flags, members of the American Guard, and members of the Aryan Terror Brigade.

Far-Right, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim militias like the 3%ers and Oath Keepers served as security. In past months, both militias have served as protection at a variety of “free speech” rallies, providing safety for white nationalist speakers and neo-Nazis, many of whom went on to appear at Unite the Right, such as Baked Alaska and Augustus Invictus.

The massive failure of MOAR, as well as continued inclusion of neo-Nazis and members of the Alt-Right in pro-Trump event shows two things. The first is that the ‘movement’ in support of Trump that began on March 4th seems to be winding down. The spam bots and basement trolls who circulate on social media and propel the Alt-Right and pro-Trump talking points forward has hit a wall and the bubble has burst. The ‘movement’ is cracking apart and support is drying up.

Moreover, as resistance to the Alt-Right and Trumpism has increased, the movement has turned towards both the militias, neo-Nazis, and the Alt-Right as allies and protection. While MOAR went out of its way to try and stop outright white supremacists from attending, the inclusion of Alt-Right groups such as the Proud Boys and FOAK from the outset only shows how insincere MOAR organizers are. The fact that other Alt-Right trolls and neo-Nazis showed up, making up a strong section of the base of public Trump support, only shows that the Deplorable ‘movement’ can’t distance itself from the Alt-Right no matter how hard it tries.

Despite cloaking itself in pseudo working-class talking points about jobs and the economy, both Trumpism and Bannonism only seek to use the white working class to advance its agenda of tax cuts on the rich and corporations, attacks on regulations and unions, and continuing to move wealth out of the hands of the poor and workers and into the pockets of the elites. Trump hasn’t brought jobs back into the US, nor has he stopped them from leaving; his rhetoric is no different from other politicians and his inability to make good on his promises is causing his already weak base of support to continue to crack.

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