Donald Trump says he plans to designate Antifa as a “major terrorist organisation,” as the Republican further tries to silence far-left movements in the United States.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the 79-year-old president took to social media to vent about Antifa, a broad term used to identify far-left learning anti fascist groups in the US.
“I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” he fumed.
“I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Trump has increasingly taken aim at left-leaning Americans, blaming the ‘radical left’ for the death of Charlie Kirk even though no official motive has been confirmed.
His remarks came shortly after Trump praised ABC for pulling comedian Jimmy Kimmel off the air after the talk show host suggested Republicans had attempted to politicise Kirk’s death by trying to paint the shooter as “anything other than one of them.”
It also comes as Trump enjoys a state visit full of pomp and parade in the UK, while British protestors take to the streets of London to reject fascism among other concerns related to Trump’s visit.
Antifa is a loose affiliation of groups aligned with a left-leaning ideology rather than a unified organisation. Given that there is no formal mechanism for designating domestic terrorism groups in the US, it’s unclear how Trump’s demands could actually be carried out.
So, what exactly does Antifa stand for?
What is Antifa?
While sometimes portrayed as an organised political group of alt-left activists, this isn’t thought to be the case.
Antifa is short for “anti fascist” and is actually a broad umbrella term that describes a number of affiliates holding left-leaning ideologies.
The term doesn’t relate to one single, organised group, and there is no centralised leadership behind the movement.
In the simplest terms, Antifa opposes fascism, which is referred to by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “centralised autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterised by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.”
Some describe Antifa as a movement of militants and anarchists that oppose nationalism, which Republican politicians accuse of being behind outbreaks of violence and clashing with far-right groups at US demonstrations. More generally, Antifa is thought to describe left-learning figures who oppose neo-Nazis and extremism.
Antifa is often also characterised in the media as counter-protesters that clash with right-wing demonstrators, and usually portrayed as dressed in all black clothing and concealing their identities.
The term ‘Antifa’ has risen to considerable prominence since Donald Trump assumed power, with the US president blaming the ‘radical left’ for a number of the country’s problems.
Why does Trump want to designate Antifa as terrorists?
Given that Antifa doesn’t actually describe a formal organisation, it’s difficult to understand how such a terrorist designation would work.
What’s more, all the existing terrorist designations enacted by the US currently relate to foreign terrorist groups (FTO) rather than a domestic group.
Counter to Trump’s remarks, The Conversation also highlighted that some 75 per cent to 80 per cent of US domestic terrorism deaths since 2001 have been tied to right-wing extremist violence. However, there’s been little political appetite to apply similar designations to extremists on the other side of the politcal spectrum.
It’s also not the first time that Trump has tried to designate Antifa as a terrorist organisation, similarly taking aim at the movement in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd. Although nothing came of Trump’s attempts.
It seems Trump’s efforts to designate Antifa as a terrorist group yet again may further paint people with left-leaning ideologies as a national security threat, which could further allow him to further clamp down on opposition and instil ‘law and order’ across the nation.
His remarks came amid his visit to the UK, where the Labour government recently was successful in proscribing the liberal anti-war group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation for campaigning against the UK facilitating arms sales to Israel.
