#nyyrc

Dean Obeidallah at The Dean's Report:

The news cycle since Saturday has been all consuming--from the shooting at Brown University, to the anti-Semitic terrorist attack in Australia to Rob Reiner and his wife Michele’s murder. Then came Donald Trump’s despicable smear of the Rob Reiner that rightfully resulted in a backlash. But something occurred Saturday night that demands far more coverage because it confirms that Trump’s vileness does not end when he goes away. Rather, the up-and-coming young Republican leaders are just as dangerous and despicable. The event at issue was the New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala held Saturday in Manhattan at an upscale venue. What took place? Well, this Politico headline summed it up well, “New York Young Republican Club gala draws white nationalist, far-right Germans as elected officials skip out.”

So who were at the event? White nationalist leaders like Jared Taylor, an influencer who went viral recently for wearing blackface on Halloween, a former George Santos’ staffer who had posted a video depicting Jews as cockroaches, a streamer who posts antisemitic content and has said “people are sick of hearing about the Holocaust.” And not content to simply showcase the right wing of America, they even featured as an honored guest, Markus Frohnmaier, a German politician whose political party, AfD, has been designated by Germany’s ‍domestic intelligence agency as a right-wing extremist organization. And Frohnmaier’s party recently came under fire for publishing a statement calling for a “new civic order” in Germany and declaring “AfD über alles,” an adaptation of a phrase associated with the Nazi party. At the dinner, Frohnmaier gave a speech where he urged the young MAGA attendees to join with his far right party. He told them, “Let us reclaim our culture, let us reclaim our ‍nations, and let us make the West whole again.” Yes, he is trying to build a new international alliance where the U.S. joins with the far right—as opposed to fighting against it.

The New York young Republicans leader, Stefano Forte, even mocked the idea of denouncing the Nazi adjacent organization, telling the audience: “You want us to denounce the AfD? You want us to denounce our allies? You want us to denounce those that stand with us?” Stefano instead then ridiculed the “fake news” media. Others at the event included Jared Taylor, who has been described by organizations that monitor extremism as the head of “a self-styled think tank that publishes an online white supremacist journal American Renaissance.” As the Southern Poverty Law Center documented, Taylor’s past comments include declaring that, “Blacks and whites are different. When blacks are left entirely to their own devices, Western civilization — any kind of civilization — disappears.” The young Republican leaders knew the press would be attending—even setting up a table for them. So when you see the guests invited and celebrated, please understand these young Republican leaders are intentionally sending a message about what they stand for. This sold out, swanky event conjured up the rise of right-wing parties in 1930’s Europe headed by aspiring fascist leaders. Adding to that sense was when the young Republican leader Stefano Forte endorsed Trump for a third term during the event despite that being a violation of the US Constitution. But to these anti-democratic movements, the constitution and laws don’t matter—only power.

[...] What we have seen from today’s GOP is that it will not moderate. Instead, it will move further and further to the right. The young Republicans at Saturday’s event simply confirm that very reality. And they warn us of what we must be prepared to defeat.

Hunter Walker and Josh Kovensky at TPM:

NEW YORK — Sunday night offered a sneak preview of what life might be like in President-elect Donald Trump’s second term at the annual black tie gala of Manhattan’s most MAGA political club. It’s a world where fringe media outlets are ascendant, a new wave of religious leaders are mixing politics and prayer, the global right-wing is rejoicing, and more established press are being subjected to a new level of restrictions and derision. 

The New York Young Republicans Club is an organization that’s over a century old. These days, the group embodies the new GOP with a leadership that unapologetically embraces Trump, strident culture war politics, and a bare-knuckled approach to it all. According to the club’s leaders, this strategy has led to an eightfold surge in membership. The group also helped stage at least one memorable event for Trump in New York during his successful campaign.  Trump, who attended the gala last year, was unable to make it this time around. However, in taped remarks from Mar-a-Lago, he credited the club with helping him win last month’s election. “I attribute a lot of it to the people in the room tonight, so I just hope you’re having a fantastic time,” Trump said. “I wish I could be with you, but I’m doing a couple of other things. You probably heard about that, but I’ll be with you, most likely, next year.”

The celebratory crowd included figures from both the American and global far right. Gavin McInnes, the founder of the Proud Boys, mingled in the room ahead of the speeches. He wouldn’t speak with TPM. 

A contingent wearing U.S.-Germany flag pins was (slightly) more talkative. One of them introduced himself as Markus, and declined to give his last name. When asked if they were members of the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD), a far-right German political party whose founder once called for a “180 degree change in their politics of commemoration” while referring to Berlin’s Holocaust memorial, they said yes.  “We are not here on AfD’s behalf,” Markus said, before the conversation ended. 

In another conversation, TPM spoke with Marco Spina, an Italian who introduced himself as national secretary of the youth wing of the country’s Republican Party. That was less expected: the Italian Republicans lean towards the center, though Spina became extremely exercised after TPM asked about the country’s current prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. She had made a big mistake in bowing down to Biden, Spina said. At another point, TPM spotted Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) posing for a photo along with Miklós Szánthó, director-general of Hungary’s Center for Fundamental Rights, a nonprofit that is a strong supporter of the country’s authoritarian leader, Viktor Orbán. Gosar and Szánthó, who also delivered remarks on stage, later appeared on Instagram posing together.

The event even featured a representative from a country that does not exist: the New Federal State of China, a supposed Chinese government-in-exile formed by Trump adviser Steve Bannon and indicted billionaire Guo Wengui. Forrest Zhou, the ersatz government’s secretary general, introduced himself to TPM as a friend of Bannon’s, and said he had come to help gin up support for the movement. The audience also included some of the unconventional internet broadcasters who have been seen as a major driver of Trump’s political momentum. Elijah Schaffer is a podcaster who has worked with multiple right-wing news organizations including Gateway Pundit, which is infamous for publishing what CNN has described as “baseless right-wing conspiracy theories.” TPM asked Schaffer about a recent report that a top aide who serves as a “gatekeeper” for information that reaches the president-elect considers Gateway Pundit “one of her go-to news sources.” As he settled in at a table near the stage, Schaffer said he feels the site is clearly having an influence on Trump.

“I think the most important part is that, like, whether or not he talks about it or not, you can hear our original reporting in some of the speeches,” Schaffer said. “So, his speech writers are reading us.” Schaffer’s past use of slurs and mockery of minority groups has led some to brand him a “racist.” It’s a label he doesn’t necessarily shy away from.  “It doesn’t bother me,” Schaffer said. “I mean, racism in and of itself is not inherently bad. Like discrimination and racism are just, there are ways that you can view the world to judge entire groups of people by the common patterns that they exhibit.”

[...] While pro-Trump media outlets were taking the stage and enjoying the catered meal, the rest of the press was given a rather different reception. Lucian Wintrich, who served as a White House correspondent for Gateway Pundit during Trump’s first term, is the NYYRC’s “press chairman.” He sent an email with guidelines for the event to TPM and others who signed up to cover the proceedings. In that message, Wintrich indicated some of the media contingent would receive minders from the club. “Without naming names, it was noted that a few press applicants have previously written stories schizophrenically calling modern Conservatives and ‘Trump supporters’ a number of unfounded names followed by fake news coverage. In spite of that, and in the spirit of an open press and access, we have decided to admit those ‘journalists’ for coverage,” Wintrich wrote. “Such being said, the most egregious offenders will receive the Christmas gift of their own personal ‘elf’ (NYYRC Gala volunteer) escort to make certain they will neither harass nor misquote attendees. Should this be witnessed and reported, credentials will be revoked.” When TPM arrived at the venue we learned that one of our reporters, Hunter Walker, was on this list. Wintrich informed us he was “one of four” to receive an escort.  “You’re particularly shitty and egregious,” Wintrich explained, adding, “My god. It’s a paint-by-the-numbers liberal way of reporting that I’m sure you’re aware of.” Walker was accompanied by an NYYRC volunteer named Ryan throughout the evening. Ryan was incredibly thorough. Ryan switched his cellphone wallpaper to a photo of Walker’s face to help him keep tabs. He even escorted Walker to the bathroom.  “That was my first time watching a reporter pee,” Ryan said after one trip. NYYRC volunteers also downloaded the social media platform Bluesky so they could keep tabs on TPM’s live coverage of the event.