CPAC: Kleen Kut Klansmen and the Power They Wield Under Trump
The Klan hoods came and Nazi symbolism was replaced with red hats at the Conservative Political Action Conference
It should come as no surprise that Steve Bannon did a Nazi salute – seemingly following Elon Musk’s lead – at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). That he did it just after calling for a third term for President Donald Trump was obviously intentional. Trump's acolytes have made their fascistic motivations well-known while following the Project 2025 blueprint that mimics the political strategy of a certain historical figure with a funny mustache.
At CPAC, they fully exposed themselves and immigrants were the targets.
The salute is essentially the final step to show the world who they are as they boast about a presidential cabinet that’s a who’s who of Christian white nationalists – a Ku Klux Klan meeting without hoods; a Nazi rally with red hats replacing swastikas. Although, at this rate, swastikas and burning crosses aren’t far away either. The white nationalism behind mass deportations and the attacks on DEI, the LGBTQ community, and the harming of swaths of nonwhite and poor people continues to be quite telling. There is no denying their motivations anymore.
When the Trump administration attacks DEI and says everything will be “merit-based,” it means that everything will be white and male. Many cases highlight this such as replacing highly decorated four-star general Lloyd Austin with someone with no experience like Pete Hegseth. Further, the firing over the weekend of the highly decorated chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and replacing him with retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan Caine—requiring presidential waivers—further exposed them.
Brown was only the second Black general to serve as chairman.
Additionally, other firings over the weekend include Air Force Vice Chief of Staff James C. Slife, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and the Judge Advocates General for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Hegseth has previously referred to Franchetti as a DEI hire saying she was selected as the Chief of Naval Operations in 2023 because she is a woman. Franchetti spent more than half of her 40-year career at sea commanding a destroyer, two carrier strike groups, and the Sixth Fleet of the U.S. Navy.
All of these actions follow comments made by Hegseth before becoming Defense Secretary saying, “Any general that was involved … in any of the DEI woke shit has to go.”
Surprisingly, there are still doubters that point to Rubio and Patel suggesting that’s not what’s happening. They continue to say Trump’s cabinet isn’t what it is, yet the people within it prove us right daily. We are in an unprecedented time when Kleen Kut Klansmen arguably have more power than ever. From the White House to the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, and more, they are wielding dangerous force and intend to use it against their detractors.
Most white nationalists think that by recruiting a few Black folks, or in this case, a white Latino and a brown dude, they can argue they aren’t racist. However, we all know that you don’t have to be white to be an agent of white supremacy. Various aspects of the ideology can sometimes appeal to nonwhite groups. From the manosphere to anti-LGBTQ bigotry and colorism, drawing in people from marginalized communities can often come via common grievances.
For example, people like Rubio and former Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio are shameless agents of white supremacy. The first took verbal abuse from Trump and the latter from leaders in his own so-called “club” who called him racial slurs. Both of them seemingly let it go. How Rubio, Tarrio, or Patel can be around blatant bigots who hate them is anyone’s guess but it takes a certain level of cowardice, that’s for sure.
It’s only a matter of time before Rubio and Patel become Trump’s scapegoats and get tossed aside once the administration gets what it wants from them. For Tarrio, that’s already happening. After rumors swirled of him being ostracized within the Proud Boys and denied any leadership positions, a small recent press conference in Washington DC was telling.
Only a handful of people joined Tarrio and former Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes to announce their lawsuit against the Department of Justice for their incarcerations over January 6. Afterward, a woman approached Tarrio holding a phone. He responded by grabbing her and tossing her phone. He was promptly arrested for simple assault by two police officers who saw the altercation from a few feet away.
Make no mistake. The list of white nationalists in the Trump administration is growing and I’m tracking every one of them (report coming soon). Their beliefs are detrimental to not just the immigrant community but to the Black, Indigenous, and LGBTQ communities along with women and girls who have historically been targeted by conservatives.
Under Trump, they are more emboldened than ever.
Immigration News
At CPAC, Border Czar Tom Homan announced that he was “coming to Boston and bringing hell with me,” in response to the Boston police’s resistance to the Trump administration's mass deportation and immigration policy. Vice President JD Vance said “the greatest threat” to the U.S. and Europe is the flood of immigrants and said that leaders who enable it are responsible.
Meanwhile, here in the U.S., a judge blocked immigration raids from Quaker, Baptist, and Sikh places of worship. The group filed suit over the Trump administration’s policy. In Houston, federal agents and Texas Department of Public Safety officers conducted raids in the Colony Ridge neighborhood. The community has long been the focus of Republican hyperbole, conspiracy theories, and misinformation about criminal activity related to noncitizen immigrants.
While we should all appreciate the reporting about which Venezuelan migrants were being sent to Guantanamo and the realization that few, if any, were criminals or gang members, I was asking the Department of Homeland Security why they were sending migrants to Cuba when Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sending planes to pick deportees up and fly them home. While I never received a response, they did stop using the facility two days later releasing 177 migrants to their home countries except for one who was detained in the U.S.
According to CNN, the administration is pausing the use of Guantanamo Bay because the tents lack electricity and air conditioning – two things we know the administration doesn’t care about.
Side Note
To further illustrate the point in my reporting about why we should pay attention to Argentina regarding where the U.S. is headed under Trump, Musk accepted a red chainsaw at CPAC as a gift from Argentinian President Javier Milei. The chainsaw was engraved with Milei’s slogan, ”Viva la libertad, carajo” (Spanish for “Long live liberty, damn it”). While on stage, Milei said, “The chainsaw is for bureaucracy.”
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Great reporting, as always.
I can't help but see the BPOC running cover for the American Nazi Party as people who've internalized oppressive racism to the point of self-hate. Then, they ingratiate themselves with the racists to get small treats to cope. Look at all of the Black and Brown people who've sold their soul to Trump and come out the other side used and tossed.
Omorosa, Kanye, Candace Owens, Tim Scott, Mark Robinson, Daniel Cameron, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy; all of them and more had their smiling mugs used for "we're not racists" promos and then got the boot after elections. Rubio and Kash Patel will be next. Herman Caine gets top prize for going all the way, contracting a lethal dose of COVID to prove his loyalty. It's foolish.
Homan's utterly mediocre performance so far as border czar is hopeful, imo.