Rising Hate: 蜜桃传媒 president addresses National Press Club about dangers of increasing far-right extremism
Southern Poverty Law Center President and CEO Margaret Huang speaks to journalists at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., today about the rising hate and far-right extremism in the country and how it not only leads to violence but extremist policies as well.
The 鈥淰irtual Newsmaker鈥� event, scheduled for 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, can be viewed live .
鈥淲e鈥檙e facing a crisis of far-right extremism and deep threats to our democracy,鈥� Huang says in prepared remarks. 鈥淲e all saw it on January 6 when the pro-Trump mob 鈥� led by white supremacists and other far-right extremists 鈥� rampaged through the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College votes.鈥�
But the threat of domestic terrorism and hate crime is just one of the dangers of this extremism.
鈥淎s we have been warning for years, racism and extremism is being mainstreamed 鈥� infiltrating our politics, our media, our democratic institutions and, importantly, our public policy.鈥�
This extremism was evident throughout the Trump years, when many key players in the administration had ties to extremist groups and where the president himself was a prolific promoter of far-right conspiracy theories and racist tropes.聽聽
鈥淲e saw it in the election last November of a QAnon believer to the U.S. Congress in Georgia,鈥� Huang says. 鈥淎nd we see it in the radical, right-wing attack on voting rights in many states 鈥� particularly in Georgia, where Republicans passed a harsh voter suppression law after their party lost the presidential election and two U.S. Senate seats because of an historic voter turnout, particularly by Black voters.鈥�
Huang also addresses the monetization of hate 鈥� the practice of extremists and hate groups raising millions of dollars online through crowdfunding and the distribution of propaganda, including livestreams of the Capitol invasion.
鈥淭he insurrection at the Capitol was a wake-up call to our nation. We cannot afford to ignore it 鈥� because the extremist ideologies and conspiracy theories that fueled the attack aren鈥檛 going away anytime soon.鈥�
Photo by聽Samuel Corum/Getty Images
