Part I: Intro and Methodology
Political Violence in the United States is nothing new. We can only look at the widespread usage of violence throughout American history such as the pinkertons and national guard employed by capitalists against unions, the terror of the Ku Klux Klan, and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and after by members of and supporters of Al-Qaeda and Daesh. However, what is new, is that for the first time in US history, the transition of power was interrupted with violence and polls suggest growing levels of acceptance of political violence against the government and violence between mainstream American partisan political groups not seen since the US Civil War.
US politicians, most notably, former President Donald Trump have not only openly supported the use of force, but have publicly and covertly supported actions to keep himself in office. The National Committee of the Republican Party officially declared the Jan 6th attacks as “legitimate political discourse.” In fact the Republican Party has moved so far to the political right, that it is starting to resemble semi-fascist political party, as even noted by President Biden. An example being that the Republican Party of Texas’s official motto is “We are the Storm”, a shared slogan of the esoteric online right wing cult, Qanon, something that will be later explained in this paper.
With 25% of Republican voters viewing the January 6th Capitol attack and self coup attempt by Donlad Trump as positive It must be asked; has there been an increase in American support for politically inspired violence following the attacks and coup attempt and if so who supports it? My hypothesis is this: There has been a marked rise in support for political violence among US Republicans following the election of Donald Trump.
There is a wealth of existing literature documenting the rise of political extremism and violence among the Republican Party. The main database I will be using is the Survey for American Life, a project from the American Enterprise Institute , which describes itself as “nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to understanding the way cultural, political, and technological changes are shaping the lives of ordinary Americans. The Center conducts original survey research focusing on critical issues in American public and private life that are not often featured in public polling.” I will also be consulting the Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core which will be invaluable in exploring the belief systems that have spurred this violence and radicalism. Journalists from the New York Times and Washington Post have also done a stellar job in documenting the rise in political violence and radicalism in the Republican Party.
Part II: Conspiracies
Anti-government sentiment among the Republican voters is once again nothing new. The entire lazieire-faire ideology itself is a rejection of government regulations, protections, and responsibilities, over commercial activity, and if you believe what they sell you, personal activity as well, though this mostly refers to gun ownership, not anything resembling civil rights or recreational drug use. The modern “anti-government” militia movement grew out of the late 80s, but really took off in the 1990s, where a number of anti-government standoffs turned violent such as the Ruby Ridge standoff, the Waco siege, and the infamous Oklahoma City bombing. However this was never part of the mainstream Republican Party politics. In fact, 1990s Republicans are so far removed from today’s political climate, that their own policies, such as Romneycare, repackaged as Obamacare, by Barack Obama, was decreed as “socialist” by the 21st century Republican Party.
However things would change within the Republican Party, as it’s conservative base was soon fully unleashed during the 2008 election with the growth and success of the Tea Party movement (Taxed Enough Already), taking its name from the 18th century American Boston Tea Party, this combined with the onslaught of conservative Fox News in a 21st century modern media machine would be a powder keg.
Donald Trump, a real estate tycoon and reality tv personality, had previously attempted to enter US politics in 2000 and but would finally have a serious campaign for President in 2016. His racist rhetoric and inner circle of conspiracy theorists like Steve Bannon created the atmosphere for the Republican Party to take the plunge into far right politics. To support Trump against Hilary Clinton, online conspiracies began to spread, from the mundane to the extreme, with one example being the “pizzagate” theory which centered around a Washington DC Pizza parlor, Comnet Ping Pong, was holding satanic rituals in the basement.In late 2016, WikiLeaks had leaked head of the Clinton Campaign, John Podesta’s emails. Co. One of these conspiracy theorists, went into the Pizza parlor with a gun and fired shots, hoping to “rescue” children in a basement that did not exist. Growing from pizzagate came a deranged online conspiracy theory known as “Qanon” sprouted on online forums which, basically, held, again, that there was a vast network of pedohphiles running the government. In 2022, the former President would host at his Florida Resort, proponents of the Pizzagate theory, as well as Kanye West, who in a bizarre rant on the far right Infowars show, praised Adolf Hitler, and known white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
In an article titled “The QAnon Conspiracy Theory: A Security Threat in the Making?” from West Point’s Counter Terrorism “Recent criminal cases with a nexus to violence involving QAnon followers show how QAnon has contributed to the radicalization of ideologically motivated violent extremists (IMVE).18 According to the FBI, QAnon and other fringe conspiracy theories could “very likely motivate some domestic extremists, wholly or in part, to commit criminal and sometimes violent activity” and noted that “one key assumption driving these assessments is that certain conspiracy theory narratives tacitly support or legitimize violent action.”
But how widespread are these extreme views among Republicans? Well it depends. According to data from Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core, found that 15 percent of Americans believe that the government is run by a cabal of Satanic pedophiles, a core belief of QAnon supporters. The same share said it was true that “American patriots may have to resort to violence” to depose the pedophiles and restore the country’s rightful order.” And in the same poll, it was found that 25% of Republicans believe in the core tenets of QAnon.
According to the poll, 15% of Americans agree with the QAnon conspiracy that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping (sic) pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation,” while the vast majority of Americans (82%) disagree with this statement. Republicans (23%) are significantly more likely than independents (14%) and Democrats (8%) to agree that the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping (sic) pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation.
This way seems like a different topic than the initial hypothesis which again is that there has been a marked rise in support for political violence among US Republicans following the election of Donald Trump generally, but especially after the January 6th attack on the US capitol. However it’s important to understand the ideology that is accelerating the growth of political violence and why many Republicans are accepting of violence against the government to achieve their aims and objectives.
Understanding the conspiracy and the support they have among Republicans is key to understanding the rationale for
Part III: Political Violence & the future of the United States
By November 7th, 2020, the election was called for Joe Biden. Donald Trump, along with his allies who flooded the airwaves with unfounded allegations of voter fraud, refused to concede. The January 6th Capitol attack was highly organized by far right organizations and individuals and members of the Trump administration in an effort to stop the counting of electoral votes to make Joe Biden President and to keep Donald Trump in office. More than 2,000 rioters breached the capitol, many of whom were brought in from out of state, in an attempt to stop the counting of electoral votes. Five people were killed in the aftermath.
We are seeing a fascist mindset evolve in the Republican party that view the republic as decadent and overrun by a cabal (a word associated with conspiracies of anti-semitism) of Satanists and that Trump, or some other strongman, must “drain the swamp.” And rather than Jan6th shocking the nation, it has emboldened the right to fight harder.
In the aftermath of such a violent and deeply destabilizing response from the GOP at large? One politician, Majorite Taylor Greene, saud during a speech during a gala of the New York Young Republicans Club “‘If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would’ve been armed.” As mentioned earlier, the GOP national committee declared the attack as legitimate discourse.
Republican politicians have weaponized conspiracy theories such as the outlandish ones above, but also fears of immigration such as the “great replacement” theory, which holds that, again, the elite are conspiring to replace people with a demographic change. Many Republicans have used this to their advantage, stirring fears of immigration. After a white racist shooter killed 10 people in Buffalo New York, who was inspired by the theory, Mitch McConell refuses to give a direct answer, while others such as Ron Johnson, a senator for Wisconsin, described the great replacement theory as “the Democrat grand plan” adding “I’ve got to believe they want to change the makeup of the electorate.”
While the data from the Survey on American Life, is non-partisan, exploring the context of the conspiracies and ideology exhorted by the Republican party we can conclude that the Survey’s warning that “If political leaders weaponize concerns about demographic change and undermine trust in democratic institutions, some members of the public may seek to achieve their political goals through non-democratic means including the use of force”
Part IV: Conclusion and Findings
Based on the findings of the two sets of data we can conclude that there is an overlap between the growth of extremist conspiracy theories and the willingness to commit violence among American Republicans. The growth of the “QAnon” conspiracy, a growth which rivals that of some religions according to , invites the believer to commit acts of violence to “take back” their country from literal Satanists. It encourages a good vs evil worldview which in turn rationalizes and compels acts of violence.
Free Soil 
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