The hollowing out of local media in the U.S. has afforded white supremacists a ripe opportunity to push their bigoted propaganda.
One of the more prominent ones openly said as much during a white nationalist conference earlier this year — and recently shared footage offers insight into the ways racism can thrive as fact-based reporting dies. In that sense, it’s necessary viewing for those who want to understand the MAGA movement’s war on the free press.
In recent post on his Substack about extremism, “Confront the Hate,” journalist Phil Williams homed in on the footage, which came from this year’s Counter-Currents confab in Italy — basically, an invitation-only meetup of white nationalists in Rome, where they discussed how to get billionaires to fund their ideas.
Williams spotlighted these quotes from prominent white nationalist Kevin DeAnna, delivered during a “Pitch to a Billionaire” panel:
“Local media has been dying all over America, which means that there’s essentially no real way to hold local governments accountable — and they can do whatever they want,” Kevin DeAnna told an invitation-only gathering of approximately 50 white nationalists in Rome.
Breaking into a broad smile, he excitedly added: “You should be fantasizing about this. This is a good thing.”
In the video, DeAnna essentially encourages wealthy conservative donors to fund political action committees to help target white rural voters: “So, if you want to get the most bang for your buck, activate rural America — ’cause that’s where white people are.”
“And these are white people that are not voting,” he added. “These are white people who are ready to be won over. These are white people who are angry and who are radical and have no one talking to them. So talk to them — and they will follow.”
DeAnna also claimed that political domination at the local level can be achieved fairly easily.
“I think you could take over a whole county with 10 people,” he said. “It would not take much. Ten people who have some idea how to campaign, and we’re talking unlocking tens of millions of dollars, jobs for 20, 30, 40, 50 people, real state authority, real law enforcement power — setting up a fortress that leftists can’t even go into without losing everything. It’s all right there.”
The strategy laid out here, stoking white rage to benefit white elites, has been deployed throughout U.S. history. It’s thoroughly covered in the documentary “White With Fear,” which spotlights how white conservatives have exploited racism and racial division for political gain. In essence, it’s political puppetry with rich conservatives presuming — justifiably, at times — that their racist invective will animate white voters.
And we’re already seeing the strategy being effectuated by the likes of Elon Musk, who used his time at the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency to gut funding for public media, a move that was particularly harmful to rural communities. He did this while promoting his white-supremacy-filled social media platform as an effective alternative. And just as DeAnna suggested, Musk has launched his own super PAC, which has promoted xenophobic propaganda and is seeking to tap Musk’s fortune to help Republicans in November’s midterm elections.
I see DeAnna’s comments as a warning to white voters, in particular, about how they could be targeted for manipulation in the months ahead. As President Donald Trump’s poll numbers continue to crater and his policies wreak havoc on the country he leads, the efforts to distract the MAGA movement’s largely white base will likely increase.
And white America must be wary of any push to enliven and unleash bigoted rage — animus that, above all else, is a tool that can help conservatives maintain political control.
The post The decline of local media is a godsend for white nationalists. And they know it. appeared first on MS NOW.
