An odd fad emerged late last night on Twitter, as journalists took to their phones following President Donald Trump’s decision to lay blame for a weekend of tragedy and mayhem in Charlottesville at the feet of both neo-Nazis and and what he dubbed the “alt-left.”
The movement known as “antifa,” which identifies itself as “anti-fascist,” has been the subject of curiosity as its rise in activity and swelling in ranks has grown in response to the rise of Trump to the presidency. An Atlantic Magazine profile of the movement, titled “The Rise of the Violent Left,” questions whether antifa’s increased activity is having the opposite effect — in that it has helped fuel the growth of the authoritarian enemies it so despises.
As the Atlantic piece points out, “In February, protesters violently disrupted UC Berkeley’s plans to host a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart.com editor,” while “in March, protesters pushed and shoved the controversial conservative political scientist Charles Murray when he spoke at Middlebury College, in Vermont.”
Fast-forward to Tuesday night and Wednesday morning:
Christopher C. Cuomo of CNN was not alone in his assessment, as journalists from outlets such as Esquire and The Atlantic, along with Boston Globe contributor Scott Gilmore, also chimed in:
The comparisons naturally went viral while also drawing a fair share of scorn:
This led some conservative pundits to predict the logical conclusion:
