Adam Fisher

"We don't hate them. We don't want to hurt them. We don't want to take their rights. We just want them to be loyal to America. They can't have power if they're abusing it. What is antisemitic about that? Honestly." Antisemites almost never call themselves antisemites. That’s part of the script. Fuentes is trying to cloak an age-old accusation in the language of civic virtue and reason. By painting Jews as disloyal and too powerful, he invites his followers to police them while soothing their consciences with the claim that suspicion isn’t antisemitism. The bleak reality is that millions of Americans will find this strangely liberating, because it recasts their own resentment and envy as patriotism. Fuentes is following a timeworn antisemitic script, complete with accusations and denials in the same breath.