By Forbes Staff Siladitya Ray
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday night said he is designating Antifa—the left-wing antifascist political movement—as a terrorist group, just days after the president threatened a crackdown on what he describes as the “radical left” following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
President Donald Trump has attacked what he describes as the “radical left” following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
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In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “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.”
The president said he will also be “strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.”
The post did not include any details on how Trump plans to enforce action against the group, which operates as a decentralized movement.
What Do We Know About Antifa?
Antifa is the shortened form of the word anti-fascist. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Antifa is a “decentralized, leaderless movement composed of loose collections of groups, networks and individuals.” The ADL report on the group notes: “While some extreme actors who claim to be affiliated with Antifa do engage in violence or vandalism at rallies and events, this is not the norm.” The Counter Extremism Project labels Antifa as “one of the most prominent far-left movements in the United States,” but notes it’s “not a coherent, centralized group but a broad ideology centered around the so-called opposition to fascism.” The report notes that the interests of groups making up Antifa “may or may not align with anarchism, socialism, communism, environmentalism, indigenous rights, gay rights, or other social justice causes.” Since the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, Trump and several conservatives have used Antifa as a catch-all term to describe left-wing groups.
What Do We Know About Trump’s Earlier Remarks On Antifa?
Wednesday night’s post is not the first time Trump has talked about designating Antifa as a terror group. In May 2020, during the nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd, Trump tweeted: “The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.” Bill Barr, who was serving as Attorney General at the time, issued a statement condemning “rioting” by some groups during the protests and added: “The violence instigated and carried out by Antifa and other similar groups in connection with the rioting is domestic terrorism and will be treated accordingly.”
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