Degrading Dream: The Influence of White Nationalism on The Grand Old Party and Social Degradation

Abstract

Ever since his election, the media has been focused on Donald Trump, his extreme rhetoric, and the white nationalists who flocked to support him. This article seeks to better understand the relationship between white nationalists and the Grand Old Party, GOP, and what has caused this rise in extremism. This article has found that white nationalist groups like the Proud Boys, the Groypers, and the Oath Keepers have been steadily gaining electoral ground within the Republican Party, despite the best efforts of some Republicans to introduce distance between themselves and these groups. It has also been found that the Republicans always had a proactive voter base that made the party listen to them. There are also degrading social conditions in the United States, primarily the closing of particular spaces, that contributes to social isolation for would-be extremists. As well as a decline in investigative political reporting that has led to the spread of disinformation.