Glenn Beck spoke recently with Fox News about his vision of a doomsday scenario. No, this apocalypse had nothing to do with Islamists capturing Megiddo and starting a world war with Rome and Jerusalem, nor did this Armageddon include either Rosemary’s progeny or the trial lawyer Al Pacino. Beck’s revelation of catastrophe was instead based on this great nightmare: a 2016 presidential election pitting Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump. If this comes to pass, Beck warned, the Republican party will lose forty-nine states, thus spelling the end of the Grand Old Party. (He neglected to mention which state would remain immune Mrs. Clinton’s “charms.”)
First of all, as someone who hasn’t even touched thirty yet, I’ve already become immune to prognostications about the death of the Republican party. I heard it in 2004, when everyone was so sure that a milquetoast millionaire from Massachusetts would thump the Texas cowboy, then I heard it again during the midterm elections of 2006, when most people with an “R” beside their name were given their walking papers. Even during non-election years, we constantly hear folks harping about America’s changing demographics and how millions of new immigrants from Latin America and Asia will give the Democrats an unbeatable monopoly.
Clearly, all of this is so much hokum. Despite the smugness of the “demography is destiny!” crowd, the GOP is sitting pretty in Congress, while even the left is frightened by how well the Republicans do in state and local elections. So what’s with all the doom and gloom, Beck?
Indeed, the true conflict facing Republicans is not with the social democrats who’ve taken over the American left, but within the soul of American conservatives. Namely, a new, highly heterogeneous force in right-wing politics is taking hold, and they have their sights set firmly on the Republican “establishment.” Known collectively as the “alternative right,” this amalgam includes neo-reactionaries, monarchists, nativists, populists, and even a few self-declared fascists. They mostly congregate online, with a large swath of blogs and websites dedicated to their concerns. As an example of how truly diverse the alt right is, major and proverbial watering holes for them include everything from Breitbart and the libertarian-leaning Taki Mag to Alternative Right—a blog that openly supports white nationalism.
Yet as scattered and ideologically diffuse as it is, the alt right has had real success. “GamerGate,” along with the wildly successful Twitter hashtag #cuckservative, are apt displays of why the alternative right has often proven more effective at fighting progressive dogma than the traditional Republican party. How? The alt right taken the fight to the left in the best way possible—they’ve co-opted its tactics and deployed them against their bully makers. The end result: Trump, the darling of the populist alt right (and its cousin, conservative talk radio), is miles ahead of his challengers, while the right-wing blogosphere is everyday gaining ground against the left and converting plenty of American voters along the way.
The alt right can cause some stomachs to churn: Even though the alt right loves to mix it up with Gawker and Salon types, it (like Trump) may enjoy picking on other conservatives even more. Republican hesitancy to accept the alt right into the fold therefore makes sense for several reasons, especially since it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the alt right couldn’t care less about the Republican party. In fact, many on the alt right believe that the Republican party is in dire need of a purge. If given the chance, the alt right would expel Marco Rubio for supporting the Gang of Eight, while other candidates like John Kasich, George Pataki, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, and Jeb Bush would get the axe for various other positions.
What makes the alt right so radical is that it categorically disagrees with even the supposedly “extreme” positions of conservatives. Being against illegal immigration and for deportation isn’t enough; the alt right wants to drastically cut back on legal immigration, as well. As for Syria, most on the alt right support Assad and Putin instead of the so-called “moderate opposition.” Basically, with the alt right, don’t expect any loyalty when it comes to the tried-and-tested Republican platform. They, not the left, are the real threat to the Republican party as it is currently constituted.
This is of course the very reason why the alt right has been in the ascendant. Rather than concede the moral high ground to the left, the alt right turns the left’s moralism on its head and makes it a badge of honor to be called “racist,” “homophobic,” and “sexist.” Instead of the GOP establishment’s soup of globalism, free markets, and foreign interventions, the alt right has resurrected some ghosts from the conservative past in pushing for protectionism, national capitalism, and an emphasis on protecting American lives at home, not abroad. Sound familiar? Get out your pitchforks.
Benjamin Welton is a writer in Boston.
