Local right-wing media host, lobbyist, and failed candidate for Congress, Andy Caldwell, sunk to even lower lows on his radio show on Jan. 6, after far-right domestic terrorists goaded by President Donald Trump stormed the United States Capitol in an attempt to overthrow American democracy..
After our criminal president whipped up his MAGA mob to march on the Capitol to supposedly engage in a “peaceful protest,” hundreds of his supporters—with well-known far-right extremists, including neo-Nazis, neo-Confederates, white supremacists, and QAnon conspiracy theorists—pushed through and attacked Capitol Hill Police, disrupting the official count of the Electoral College votes that formally granted the presidency to its rightful winner, Joseph Biden, putting lawmakers into lockdown and evacuation mode.
What was plain to see to many of us who warned about the danger of Trump, his rhetoric, and his most extreme followers since 2016 was now clear as day to all Americans: that they posed a serious authoritarian and fascistic threat to our way of life, both in our constitutional republic’s democratic process and the rule of law.
But if you live in the silo of the right-wing MAGAsphere like Caldwell, and believe Trump’s big lie of election fraud, the best answer is yet another lie—antifa did it.
“I believe, and we’ve seen some pictures, antifa claimed they were going to infiltrate these protest rallies to raise a ruckus,” Caldwell said. “And the Proud Boys said they were going to do the same, and they both said they were going to dress incognito.”
This conspiracy theory, yet another paranoid and baseless claim to deflect from the extremism in America’s far-right fostered by the Republican Party, was also floated by Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz (Florida) once the House resumed the process to formalize the election results. Anti-fascist organizers often called antifa, who are not formally bound only by the desire to resist fascist groups like the Proud Boys, was very much nowhere to be found in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. The Proud Boys, however, were there for the attack on the Capitol, along with neo-Nazi and white supremacist extremists who were brazen enough to livestream their ransacking of the halls of Congress.
I would also like to remind everyone that the Proud Boys, a far-right group dedicated to street violence in the name of Donald Trump, were asked by Trump to “stand back, and stand by” during the presidential debate. Now we know what he was referring to.
And believe it or not, Caldwell was sharing this baseless claim with the most unfortunate (for him) guest possible to book that day—Joe Arpaio. Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff and proto-Trumpist figure known for his cruelty to inmates, especially immigrants from Mexico and South America, was found guilty of contempt of court for ignoring federal orders to stop arresting immigrants based solely on the suspicion of undocumented status. Trump, as we have seen him do with several of his criminal friends and supporters, pardoned Arpaio in 2017, all while mainstreaming the former sheriff’s campaign of cruelty against immigrants and refugees.
“To what degree do you think [antifa] infiltrated this to just give Trump a bad name?” Caldwell asked.
Arpaio replied, “Well, that doesn’t surprise me,” and immediately spun the conversation to looting that happened during the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement last summer.
Caldwell and Arpaio continued to collectively blame the media, Democratic Party lawmakers, antifa, California, and “the left” in general for the ills in America, grasping at literally anything rather than face the incredibly unprecedented escalation of right-wing domestic terrorism that struck at the very heart of our nation on Jan. 6. Equivocating an attack on the U.S. Capitol with protest, and even going as far as blaming it on confabulated left-wing agitators, illustrates a deeply disturbing strain of American conservatism that is all too comfortable reaching for the fascists’ playbook.
I know many Republicans are mortified by what happened in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 and have accepted the obvious truth of the integrity of the election and agree with the calls for Trump to be removed from office. As someone on the progressive left, I won’t treat them as anything but fellow citizens and friends. But for those like Caldwell, who act as apologists for the anti-democracy and extremist strain on the right, I am comforted to see them so resoundingly defeated by the American people in the 2020 elections, after just one term of the man who is unequivocally the worst president in United States history. Δ
Joe Payne is a lifelong journalist and Santa Marian who shares news, analysis, and commentary online at politicalpayne.com. Send responses for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Jan 21-28, 2021.
Well, three thoughts.
First, anyone who asserts that Trump was a “criminal president,” is expressing a level of foundation-less bias which reduces the credibility of anything else he says.
Second, the FBI has found that the assault on the capital was pre planned, and commenced 20 minutes before Trump ended his speech (in which he encouraged his followers to “peacefully” protest (something which the citizens in this country value as a means of addressing their grievances).
Third, no one has endorsed this riot as a good thing; Republicans and Democrats alike. It has also been repudiated by president Trump. It would be expected that the Billions of dollars of damage left by BLM and Antifa riots throughout the summer would generate the same condemnation by the Democrats; but, as Kamala Harris has said, “they should not stop.” Amazing.
It is hard to take the indignation seriously of a group which is so conveniently selective a out WHICH riots andviolence they condemn.
Warm congratulations to Joe Payne for his crystal clear summary of the right wing insurrection against American democracy on January 6. We will be learning more about the violent pro-Trump seditionists as the FBI continues to investigate them. Meanwhile, back-pedaling Trumpist apologists are desperately grasping at straws to shift attention away from the surfacing racism, violence and authoritarian tendencies evermore evident within the Republican fold. Can you spell L-A-U-R-E-N B-O-E-B-E-R-T? (Hint: she’s the conspiracy-mongering gunstrix congresswoman from Western Colorado.)
With the utter discrediting of Jan. 6 as an ANTIFA attack, Trumpists now hastily change the subject by pointing to the BLM protests: “hey, look over here!” Truth is, 93% of BLM protests were peaceful. Further, no one should be surprised that some opportunists exploited the BLM protests to commit vandalism and theft. Many of these had no interest in BLM or cared about police reform. In addition, as the summer protests were investigated, police found that some of the vandalism and arson were committed by the Boogaloo Boys and other extreme right provocateurs.
As for Andy Caldwell, was THIS really the best candidate Central Coast Republicans could put up against Salud Carbajal? A hard right propagandist and junior version of Rush Limbaugh? And with no governmental experience? Sheesh — talk about a political party that has lost its way!!
The most terrifying words in the English language: I’m anti-government and I’m here to free you.
Caldwell & other alt-right slime simply choose to believe what they want to regardless of empirical reality.Nazi propagandists screamed that the Jews were enslaving & slaughtering the German people even though anyone with a functional brain knows who was really doing the enslaving & slaughtering. During the civil rights era, the fascistic John Birch Society claimed that Dr Martin Luther King Jr ordered the 1964 Birmingham Alabama church bombing that killed four little black girls. The KKK was guilty of the crime but AmeriKKKan Nazis wanted to believe otherwise. They also said that the peaceful marchers on the Edmund Pettus bridge who were brutally attacked & bloodied by the racist Alabama cops had supposedly cut & smashed their own bodies with knives & stones to make it look like the police did it. Hence, today the far right sociopathic liars say that antifa & BLM carried out the attack on the U.S. Capitol even though it was obvious that it was Trump’s barbarous followers who perpetrated the mayhem. Trumptard fascists live in an alternative universe where up is down, black is white, hot is cold & evil is good. They are people of the big lie & they are beyond the pale of reason.
Even Al Fonzi comes out against Trump. Caldwell is a narrow minded shallow sycophant.
Al Fonzi’s quote
“Yet all of that is overshadowed by the manner in which you governed. You continuously used the most caustic language toward your political opponents and sometimes your allies of any president in my lifetime. You encouraged your supporters to believe the worst about American institutions, deserving or not, to the point where substantial numbers of Americans have lost confidence in their government. Not since the Civil War have Americans been so divided nor so disdainful of those with opposing viewpoints. You didn’t attempt to heal the nation and continuously took the lowest road. I’m sorry for this outcome as, like many others, I had high hopes for what you could do for America.
This week you gathered an enormous number of supporters in Washington, D.C. You motivated them with your usual charismatic speech, but you also fell back into your habit of blaming others for what you perceived to be an unfair and corrupted political process. You encouraged your followers with the false hope that after exhausting every legal avenue to contest perceived fraudulent election activity you could somehow still reverse the outcome of the presidential election. You encouraged them to march on the Capitol to challenge a joint session of the House and Senate during verification of the states’ electoral votes, even though there is no constitutional provision for the vice president chairing the proceedings to change any of the votes.“
So many points to cover and too little time.
Worst President ever? You honestly think Biden has done a bang up job in his short tenure? He is going to take the USA into Titanic mode here before the end of the year. And his dishonesty is well documented and long term yet no actions against him and his family. Gee whiz, aint that a surprise?!
Trump had/has excellent policies and a personality that makes most of our skin crawl. At least he did about 95% of what was good for Americans, good for our country, good the world at large, smart/intelligent/powerful. What is wrong with that exactly?
Andy Caldwell has a voice and an excellent mind and strong beliefs and values. It is so typical for folks to toss out meaningless words when they disagree with someone’s opinion that is different than theirs. How about if you look into yourself first and get a grip on why things are all F’ed up and how you have contributed to that and what you plan on doing to get this country back on the right course. Only they do you have the right to say the BS you are saying in this article.