Detrumpification: Media Lays Out Plan to 'Deprogram' Trump Supporters From Their 'Extremist' Views

How to deprogram America's extremists

by Kyle Daly

It will take an all-out national effort to dismantle the radicalization pipeline that has planted conspiracy theories in the heads of millions of Americans and inspired last month's attack on the Capitol, experts tell Axios.

Two key measures that could make a difference:

- Keeping extremists out of the institutions where they could do the greatest damage -- like the military, police departments and legislatures.

- Providing help for those who have embraced dangerous ideologies.

Online platforms, meanwhile, must be unwavering in their commitment to root out conspiracy theories and lies that undermine faith in democracy, according to experts interviewed by Axios.

- Radicalization and counterterrorism experts broadly applaud tech companies' efforts, now under way, to remove this material and the accounts that spread it off their platforms, despite heavy blowback from conservatives.

- Twitter's decision to ban Donald Trump is seen on its own as a major asset in the fight to slow or reverse radicalization.

The U.S. needs a "Marshall Plan against domestic extremism," Daniel Koehler, director of the German Institute on Radicalization and De-radicalization Studies, told Axios.

- "The spread of extremist conspiracy theories in the United States is the second most dangerous pandemic the country faces right now," he said. "The damage that's been to the U.S. in terms of community and social cohesion will be immense and will be lasting."

BREAKING: @BernieSanders “free education” policies to “teach you how to not be a f**king nazi.”; 'There is a reason Stalin had Gulags'; 'Expect violent reaction' for speech. If Bernie doesn't get nomination "Milwaukee will burn"

Stay tuned: https://t.co/BFGnoCeJE7#Expose2020 pic.twitter.com/Koh6UTibbe

— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) January 14, 2020

- The radicalization is happening in a multitude of online spaces and right-wing media channels, pulling people into an alternate reality that posits, among a growing swarm of other false ideas, that the 2020 election was stolen.

When it comes to coordinated deradicalization efforts, the U.S. is behind most European countries by 25 to 30 years, Koehler said.

The latest: Twitter's ongoing purge of far-right conspiracy theorists who have spread the lie that Trump won the 2020 election continued apace over the weekend, as the company suspended the account of Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft.

[...] A key part of breaking extremists' rising mainstream influence will be making it unacceptable for white nationalists, anti-government extremists and conspiracy theorists to serve in the military, in police forces or as lawmakers.

- Experts worry that the GOP's tacit and sometimes explicit approval of extremists will hamper efforts to keep police forces and legislatures free of conspiracy theorists.

- "At DOD, it will go well and they will quash it," said former FBI counterterrorism analyst Clint Watts. "It's a lot of sheriffs' departments that make me nervous, because they're elected. Politics means you go with party."

MSNBC’s Clint Watts (@selectedwisdom): "If you took what President Trump said and you instead put it in Anwar al-Awlaki's mouth, we would be talking about a drone strike overseas." pic.twitter.com/4P3FP9otDD

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 28, 2021

Democrat 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg announced disturbing plans for a taxpayer-funded nationwide "mentorship" program to connect "LGBT youth" with "leaders" in politics & business which many are suggesting sounds like a state-sponsored grooming program. https://t.co/U2EWR4bXVK

— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) October 11, 2019

Tucker Carlson debunks a recent study from NYU purporting to show that claims of conservative censorship on social media are false:

"It was in fact paid for by big tech" and "one of the many silicon billionaires who paid for the Joe Biden presidential campaign." pic.twitter.com/AfCFFozuPR

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 3, 2021

ADL Hails Big Tech Censors: CEOs Are 'The 4th Branch Of Govt,' 'They're Trying To Hold The Country Together'
https://t.co/PmZPN2SBUO

— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) January 19, 2021