The Atlantic

How the 'Alt-Right' Came to Dominate the Comments on Trump's Facebook Page

Over the course of the campaign, the comments left on the president’s official Facebook page increasingly employed the rhetoric of white nationalism.
Source: Lucas Jackson / Reuters

The alt-right gathered in Washington, D.C. in November to celebrate President Donald Trump’s victory, and the president has come under fire for choosing cabinet appointees and advisors who have faced charges of racism. That’s fed growing concern––both from liberals, like recently-retired Senator Harry Reid, and conservatives, like Evan McMullinthat the Trump presidency will have ties to white nationalism, the belief that society should be structured to ensure white political, social, and economic domination.

While the president has said that he rejects the support of white nationalists, against the backdrop of a , a large-scale analysis of 8,215,332 comments from 1,734,738 different accounts left on the president’s Facebook page between January 1st, 2016 and November 1st, 2016 shows that their language increasingly reflected anti-Semitic

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic5 min read
The Strangest Job in the World
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. The role of first lady couldn’t be stranger. You attain the position almost by accident, simply by virtue of being married to the president
The Atlantic5 min readAmerican Government
What Nikki Haley Is Trying to Prove
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Nikki Haley faces terrible odds in her home state of
The Atlantic3 min read
The Coen Brothers’ Split Is Working Out Fine
It’s still a mystery why the Coen brothers stopped working together. The pair made 18 movies as a duo, from 1984’s Blood Simple to 2018’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, setting a new standard for black comedy in American cinema. None of those movies w

Related Books & Audiobooks