‘White supremacist propaganda nearly doubled in 2020’

Last year the United States saw the most white supremacist propaganda in a decade, with thousands of flyers, bumper stickers, banners and other propaganda reported across the country, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The ADL’s report, published on Wednesday, counted 5,125 pieces of propaganda distributed by 30 white supremacist groups across 49 states in 2020. That’s almost double the number recorded in 2019.

The vast majority of the propaganda the group tracked came from one Texas-based group that uses traditional American patriotic language and imagery in its materials including the phrase “America First,” used by Donald Trump and his supporters.

The rise in propaganda may be attributable to the presidential campaign and election, according to the ADL, a leading antisemitism and extremism watchdog. In the months leading up to Election Day, government officials and groups including the ADL warned repeatedly of extremist activity surrounding the vote.

Those warnings came to bear with the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, which led to five deaths. (That event, and the white supremacist groups and symbols present there, was not included in the 2020 tally as it took place in 2021.)

But while the “charged political climate” may have been conducive to propaganda, propaganda did not significantly increase as the election neared, and much of the content of the propaganda was unchanged from previous years and did not reference the vote or COVID-19, said Jessica Reaves, editorial director of the ADL’s Center on Extremism.

“We can’t know for sure what moves the needle when it comes to propaganda numbers,” she said.

Despite the overall increase in white supremacist propaganda, the ADL found that it dropped by more than half on campuses, to 303 last year from 630 incidents in 2019. (JTA)