Running Mate is a US election podcast – just for Brits. In our fourth episode, we look at the rising tide of extremism in the US.
Host Graeme Demianyk speaks to Andy Campbell and Chris Mathias, HuffPost reporters in the US who cover the extremism beat, to find out more about nationalist and radical groups – such as the Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer – who have risen to prominence during Donald Trump’s presidency.
They describe how his first term saw Trump portray white nationalists as “very fine people” after some of them ran over and killed a woman in Charlottesville in 2017 during a far-right rally that both reported on.
Fast forward three years, and the president is indulging QAnon, the viral pro-Trump conspiracy theory movement, and extremists are set to be elected in November – which is why, they say, these groups and ideas should not be dismissed as fringe.
We also hear from Jiore Craig, a digital specialist advising Democrat campaigns, on why social media companies aren’t doing more to fight online political disinformation campaigns.
Listen to the second episode of Running Mate above. There’ll be a new episode to download every Monday – find it by searching for Running Mate on any good podcast platform, and get involved in the conversation on social media by using our hashtag #HPRunningMate.