With right-wing terrorist attacks and hate crimes on the rise, a radical conservative president who makes racist statements, and multiple hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and alt-right organizations having their numbers bolstered, many conservatives are in a sticky situation. While the violent attacks and racially aggressive statements made by radical members of the right are horrific, they serve to help those with opposing viewpoints.
There are many moderate conservatives and Trump supporters that haven’t fully bought into the hateful origins of right-wing ideals. These people can still be swayed to the left, and this political migration is encouraged by right-wing leaders expressing radical hateful sentiments.
To counter this drift in political thought, right-wing rhetoricians have employed a number of tactics used to undermine the true horror of their actions, as well as radicalize naive internet users—a deceitful process that must be prevented. These tactics are often deployed or created consciously and with malicious intent.
While using deceptive or simplified language in an argument to get a point across isn’t morally wrong, the right often attempts to indoctrinate or inspire hate using these methods. As someone who was at one point indoctrinated by right-wing ideology, I am constantly in conflict with these methods as I attempt to de-radicalize as many conservatives as I can.
A tactic often used by the right is the insistence that for every right-wing group, there is a left-wing group with an equally negative impact on the world. The massive turnout at the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017—a unification of multiple right-wing hate groups—was not seen by many as the horrific event that it was. This lack of understanding stems from the fact that left-wing, anti-fascist groups also come into public view around the same time. Right-wingers stoked fear by building these left-wing groups up as far more horrific than any right-wing terrorists, branding them the “alt-left.”
The media was soon flooded with comparisons of the alt-right and this new alt-left, which served to turn media attention away from the tragic attacks on counter-protesters that occurred at the rally. Even our right-wing president chimed in, saying there were “good people on both sides,” a declaration that failed to address the hateful sentiment which caused the conflict in the first place.
Another tactic often used when right-wing speech has crossed a line, is labeling it as “comedy.” A recent example is a conflict between far-right YouTuber Steven Crowder and Vox News. Crowder made a video commenting on a video posted by Vox, in which he mocked the fact that the Vox reporter in the video was gay, calling him a “wispy q---r,” and other slurs on more than one occasion. Crowder received backlash, with the possibility of YouTube suspending his channel, and decided to defend his words. He claimed they were “comedy,” and received support from multiple right-wing media figures, who used similar justification. His channel avoided deactivation.
Calling something offensive “comedy” as a defense is an especially clever tactic because it not only gives you the freedom to say what you want, but it also allows you to portray your detractors as “sensitive” or “lame” when they are offended.
The most desperate and absurd tactic used by right-wing media to make themselves seem less violent is to provide false information, as we saw in the aftermath of the Charlottesville rally. After a man intentionally drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters and killed a woman, many right-wing media outlets spread false information that she actually died from a heart attack near the scene of the crime. By spreading this lie, the radical right was able to make itself seem less dangerous, and, in doing so, retained their more moderate supporters.
The most desperate and absurd tactic used by right-wing media to make themselves seem less violent is to provide false information, as we saw in the aftermath of the Charlottesville rally. After a man intentionally drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters and killed a woman, many right-wing media outlets spread false information that she actually died from a heart attack near the scene of the crime. By spreading this lie, the radical right was able to make itself seem less dangerous, and, in doing so, retained their more moderate supporters.
As liberals and leftists, we should fight against these types of deception. However, simply being able to predict these verbal gymnastics is only half the battle. When coming into verbal conflict with either a member of the right or a centrist who has bought into their falsehoods, be sure to know how to counter these tactics.
In order to avoid the spreading of false information, be sure to research the topic you are debating. If you do not understand it, admitting that you don’t know is better than being humiliated, which would invalidate your stance on other topics you may understand.
When the defense of “comedy” is used, quickly explain that even if something is meant as a joke, comedy is almost always used as a way to express real beliefs or ideas in a more relaxed way.
Finally, if your opponent tries to defend a right-wing organization by comparing it to a left-wing one, know that the facts are in your favor. Be sure to reference the origins of both movements, illustrating that those of the right are based in hatred and discrimination, while those of the left are not.