Far-right influencers and US politicians are either turning on Trump’s political strategy or “expressing concern” for his campaign, says senior researcher Dr Emma Shortis.
Candace Owens once suggested the US invade Australia to save us from “tyrannical” COVID policies. Laura Loomer has described herself as a proud Islamophobe. Nick Fuentes is a white supremacist who’s praised Hitler.
All three have previously been big Donald Trump supporters, using huge social media platforms to advocate for the former president.
What’s behind this dramatic turnaround? The Australia Institute researcher Dr Emma Shortis joins The Briefing to give insight:
Dr Emma Shortis is a Senior Researcher for the International & Security Affairs Program at independent thinktank the Australia Institute.
“So the far right influencers are mostly from, I suppose, the right-wing universe of podcasts. And they, I wouldn’t go as far as to say they’re turning on Trump, but they’re, I think, expressing their concern about his campaign,” Shortis said.
Shortis says that influencers like Candace Owens are suggesting that Trump’s campaign is “tanking”, and are offering advice on how to fix it.
“They’re making the argument that he is not being conservative or radical enough and that’s why he’s losing support,” she said.
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