For those still questioning whether Donald Trump’s electoral college victory has emboldened white supremacists, a new video showing an alt-right crowd celebrating Trump’s win with Nazi salutes should give them all the answers they need.
The shameful footage shows alt-right leader Richard Spencer delivering closing remarks at a National Policy Institute conference in Washington, when he said, “Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!” His comments drew applause… and Nazi salutes.
Video via The Atlantic:
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Spencer’s remarks came in a speech that the Atlantic reported was “dripping with anti-Semitism.” The alt-right leader even said that the United States is “a white country designed for ourselves and our posterity.”
More from the Atlantic:
Spencer has popularized the term “alt-right” to describe the movement he leads. Spencer has said his dream is “a new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans,” and has called for “peaceful ethnic cleansing.”
For most of the day, a parade of speakers discussed their ideology in relatively anodyne terms, putting a presentable face on their agenda. But after dinner, when most journalists had already departed, Spencer rose and delivered a speech to his followers dripping with anti-Semitism, and leaving no doubt as to what he actually seeks. He referred to the mainstream media as “Lügenpresse,” a term he said he was borrowing from “the original German”; the Nazis used the word to attack their critics in the press.
“America was until this past generation a white country designed for ourselves and our posterity,” Spencer said. “It is our creation, it is our inheritance, and it belongs to us.”
The audience offered cheers, applause, and enthusiastic Nazi salutes.
We’ve heard and seen a lot of frightening things during Trump’s time in the political spotlight, but this is among the most disturbing. It appears his electoral college victory on Nov. 8 has only encouraged more of the same, whether it’s a spike in hate crimes or a group of people suddenly feeling comfortable flashing a Nazi salute in public.
Most Americans did not vote for or endorse this version of the United States when they cast their ballots earlier this month, but the president elect’s victory appears to have put white supremacy back in style.
This is Donald Trump’s America now – and he must own it.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
