The Normalization of Hate
In American politics, words aren’t just wind—they set norms, draw red lines, and tell crowds what’s permissible. Since 2016, the rhetoric associated with MAGA has repeatedly blurred those lines around race and religion. The pattern isn’t subtle: harsh dehumanization of immigrants, equivocation about extremist groups, and flirtations with openly antisemitic figures have coincided with measurable spikes in hate incidents—especially against Jews. The claim here isn’t that every MAGA voter is racist or antisemitic. It’s that high-profile cues from MAGA’s most visible leaders have helped normalize and energize those who are.
The data backdrop: hate crimes and antisemitism spiked
Federal and civil-society tracking show that hate incidents have surged in recent years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting program recorded elevated hate-crime levels through 2023, with race/ethnicity and religion among the top motivators. Independent tracking by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found U.S. antisemitic incidents hit the highest total ever recorded in 2024 (9,354, up 344% over five years). Whatever the precise causal soup, the trendline is unmistakable.
Rhetorical cues that mainstream the fringe
Leaders telegraph boundaries. In September 2020, asked to denounce white-supremacist groups, Donald J. Trump told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by”—a phrase the group promptly embraced. During the same political era, Trump repeatedly used language about immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country,” rhetoric widely noted for echoing nativist and even Nazi-era framings. Those aren’t slips; they’re signals.
“Both sides” and the Charlottesville through-line
After the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville—organized by white nationalists—Trump’s “very fine people… on both sides” formulation became a keystone moment. Defenders argue he later said he wasn’t talking about neo-Nazis themselves; critics note the initial moral equivalence still validated the rally’s cause and confused the boundary between democratic protest and explicit bigotry. Either way, extremists heard tolerance for their presence in the public square.
Research: extremist outcomes track elite cues
Peer-reviewed studies reinforce what common sense suggests: elite cues matter. Counties that hosted 2016 Trump rallies saw subsequent increases in reported hate-motivated events. Separate research finds that Trump’s political rise correlated with greater reported prejudice among his supporters toward racial and religious minorities, and that approval of Trump predicted higher support for political violence mediated by racist and xenophobic attitudes. In short: rhetoric shifts perceived norms, and behavior follows.
Antisemitism’s record surge—and the coalition problem
Antisemitic incidents reached all-time highs in 2024, with ADL attributing a majority to Israel-related contexts after Oct. 7, 2023. But ADL and federal data also show a continuing, separate stream from white-supremacist ecosystems—long interwoven with MAGA-era culture wars. When a former president dines with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist (Nick Fuentes), the boundary-blurring accelerates: an extremist figure is elevated, and his followers feel invited in.
Why this matters
Democracies rely on stigma against explicit bigotry. When leaders launder slurs into policy talk (“poisoning the blood”), decline crisp denunciations (“stand back and stand by”), or platform antisemites, the stigma thins. The result isn’t just uglier discourse; it’s more harassment, vandalism, and violence tracked in official stats and civil-society audits. This is not about policing policy conservatism. It’s about rejecting a style of politics that treats dehumanization and conspiracism as acceptable tools.
What to do about it
- Demand bright-line denouncements of racist and antisemitic groups—no euphemisms, no “both sides.”
- Hold platforms and parties accountable for who they elevate and retweet.
- Invest in counter-speech and security for targeted communities, and keep reporting mechanisms resourced and transparent.
None of this requires abandoning robust debate on immigration, crime, or Middle East policy. It does require leaders to stop ignoring bigotry—and for the rest of us to stop ignoring racist leaders.
Sources
- FBI, Crime in the Nation, 2023 (UCR summary). fbi.gov
- U.S. DOJ Civil Rights Division, 2023 Hate Crime Statistics. justice.gov
- ADL, Audit of Antisemitic Incidents 2024. congress.gov
- AP, “Trump to far-right extremists: ‘Stand back and stand by.’” apnews.com
- Vox / Roll Call, “Charlottesville press conference transcript.” vox.com
- Reuters, “Trump repeats ‘poisoning the blood’ anti-immigrant remark.” reuters.com
- Cambridge University Press, “The Trump Effect: How 2016 Campaign Rallies Explain Spikes in Hate.” cambridge.org
- ScienceDirect, “Did Donald Trump’s presidency reshape Americans’ prejudice?”. sciencedirect.com
- Axios / AP, “ADL’s 2024 record highs.” axios.com
- The Guardian, “Trump’s dinner with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West.” theguardian.com