During his four years in the White House, President Donald Trump showed more clear sympathy with far-right white supremacist groups - especially armed ones - than any other president in America's modern memory, Foreign Affairs said.

The magazine confirmed - in a report by academic researchers Ayla Matanuk and Paul Stanland - that the Trump administration also pressured law enforcement agencies to reduce the seriousness of the threat posed by these right-wing groups, which allowed non-governmental violence to infiltrate again into the political scene, reaching a level not seen in the country since the 1960s. And the seventies of the last century.

The researchers expected - based on the results of a study they had completed - that the spiral of extremist violence would continue before and after the presidential elections next week.

The study revealed that there are two main methods that cause an increase in armed participation in American politics, namely when political elites support armed groups, even implicitly, or when governments fail to muster a consistent and unified response to these groups, confirming that both paths appeared clearly and disturbingly during Trump's presidency .

The magazine confirmed that law enforcement agencies should treat far-right groups like other terrorist groups (Reuters)

Electoral violence

The magazine confirms that regardless of who wins the elections on the third of November, Trump's presidential term has opened the door to more electoral violence in the future, and it will be very difficult to close it.

She added that if the US political system begins to normalize with the presence of these armed groups, and if law enforcement agencies fail to deter them and address the problem from the ground up, aspiring politicians in the future may see an electoral benefit in developing and sponsoring these organizations.

She pointed out that, although some analysts expect the United States to fall into a civil war, the most likely scenario is to enter into a cycle of intermittent and recurrent low-level political violence incited and fed by political leaders, which will gradually erode American democracy.

The magazine mentioned that white supremacist groups engage in electoral politics in various ways, the most important of which is seeking to influence the election results by explicitly supporting candidates or targeting their opponents publicly, and politicians can also develop their relationships with these groups to enhance their agendas and improve their chances of winning.

On the other hand, Foreign Affairs explained that armed groups active in the United States have a wide range of goals, as some are principally anti-authority, making their participation in politics extremely difficult, while others focus mainly on fighting what they see as a rapid expansion of power. The state, and the power of the Left in particular.

She noted that under Trump, these groups increasingly directed their anger at Democratic rulers and other political figures opposing their racist views of the American state and nation.

Among the most well-known groups in this area are the armed right-wing Proud Boys, parts of the anti-government Boogaloo Movement, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi groups and militias. And other local armed units.

Gunmen from the far-right "Proud Boys" (Anatolia)

Trump's legitimacy

The magazine confirms that before Trump came to power in 2016, these groups worked mainly on the margins of politics and were vulnerable to condemnation from most components of the political scene, but President Trump's language and rhetorical approach legitimized their agendas.

The American magazine believes that the best way to stand against the further incursion of these groups into the American political arena is through collective disavowal of electoral violence by all politicians and components of the political scene, from left-wing Democrats to Republicans who support Trump.

The magazine also adds that law enforcement agencies at the federal, local and state levels must resume operations to neutralize right-wing extremists and treat them in a manner that does not differ from their treatment of other extremists.

The media can also play a pivotal role in this regard by mobilizing public opinion positively against these groups, as reducing sympathy with them will increase the size of the repercussions they may face, and raise the level of political risks that may face the politicians who support them.

The magazine concludes that despite the difficulty of undermining the gains made by these extreme right-wing groups during the lenient Trump years, the next administration will have the opportunity and the appropriate tools to combat them, especially through coordinated party action that would liberate American democracy from the influence of these extremists.