Why the right thinks everyone they don’t like is a terrorist

Explanation of law is a weekly series that looks at what the right is obsessed with right now, how it's affecting politics, and why you need to know.

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Republican lawmakers have been overzealous over the past two weeks in opposing Saturday's “No Kings” protests. Instead of addressing the protesters' main problem – President Donald Trump's numerous abuses of power – Republicans have disproportionately attacked the movement.

GOP denigrates 'No Kings'

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson insisted that the anti-Trump rallies are evidence of the “hate America” ​​movement and are part of the supposed “pro-Hamas wing” of the Democratic Party. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy complained in an interview with Fox News that the rallies would include “paid protesters” and members of the antifa movement.

These descriptions contradict reality. Previous “No Kings” protests in June revealed approximately 4-6 million people peacefully expressing their disagreement, which is not at all like the nightmarish demagoguery of the Republican Party.

The latest round of smears echoes previous Republican arguments portraying their political opposition as terrorists or allies of terrorists.

The smear is not new

Trump loves to use this tactic.

During the 2024 election cycle, Trump was not content to simply express his opposition to the Democratic Party. Instead he insisted that the “enemy within” the country poses a threat. Trump claimed the 'enemy within' was such a problem that the 'radical left-wing lunatics' who were part of it might have to be 'dealt with' by the military and National Guard – preview his current policy.

A few years earlier, in his first term, Trump promoted the false notion that public protests against him and investigations into his misdeeds were the work of the so-called “deep state.” The theory, borrowed from fellow conspiracy theorists such as Alex Jones, argues that an entrenched bureaucracy is opposing his agenda and destabilizing the government, and that it is in cahoots with the Democratic Party and the Progressive movement.

Trump and his supporters are not the only ones embracing these tactics and rhetoric.

In 2005, when the United States was deeply involved in the Iraq War, then-President George W. Bush's senior adviser Karl Rove made a similar accusation. In his speech, Rove said, “Liberals saw the brutality of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding to our attackers.”

This was to characterize resistance to the war as aid and comfort to the terrorist group al-Qaeda.

In reality there was no connection between the Iraqi government and the September 11 attacks, and the Middle Eastern country was not in possession weapons of mass destruction that the Bush administration used to justify the war. The fearmongering was the result of misinformation by Rove, Bush and other administration officials.

Insults instead of argument

Equating political opposition with terrorism is part of a Republican scheme to suppress dissent and stigmatize those who deviate from GOP orthodoxy.

The party's strategy against dissent can also be seen in its efforts Gerrymander constituencies such that Republicans are overrepresented in Congress. The same tactic was recently demonstrated when the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission sought to silence comedian Jimmy Kimmel, who regularly makes fun of Trump.

By invoking terrorism where it does not exist, the Republican Party is openly attempting to divert public attention from the opposition's arguments without having to honestly confront and refute them.

Conservatism's support for violence and falsification

At the same time, the conservative movement is often characterized by an element of fakes and extremism.

In the 2010s, the Tea Party movement aimed to oppose the actions of the Obama administration. were portrayed as grassroots. But much of it was financed by wealthy Republican donors like the Koch brothers, who sought to reduce government oversight of their business empires.

Conservatism, currently led by Trump, hugged regularly fanatical tricks. And Trump an ally himself with violent groups such as the Proud Boys being infamous telling them in 2020, “stand by and stand by.”

republicans tried their best to convince the majority of the public supported their extremist program. Although the party achieved electoral success, most people support the social safety net, oppose racism and misogyny, and do not want the government to invade their privacy.

Instead of working to win voters over to their far-right agenda, Republicans find it easier to label peaceful, pro-democracy protesters as the real terrorists.

But that doesn't make it true.