President Drumpf has been working overtime to accuse Antifa of the violence and looting at the George Floyd protests around the country.
Unfortunately for Trump, Antifa is barely a thing. As recently explained in the New York Times:
Antifa is not an organization, and it does not have a leader, membership roles or any defined, centralized structure. It is a vaguely defined movement of people who share common protest tactics and targets.
Antifa is a thing in Germany, where it started out as an anti-fascist group under the Weimar Republic. Over here, not so much. But it makes a convenient punching bag.
There have also been people on the left who have claimed that white supremacists have infiltrated the protests and are responsible for much of the looting. I don’t think we have much evidence for that either yet.
A number of looters have been filmed on cell phone and surveillance cameras, and if they’re identified, we may have a better idea of who they are. My guess is that many of them are simply opportunists who are taking advantage of the situation to wreak a little havoc.
But who knows. I don’t have any more evidence for that then do the people accusing either Antifa or white supremacists.
Now, President Drumpf didn’t just accuse Antifa, he also accused the mainstream media of supporting the looters.
Of course, neither CNN nor MSNBC nor any other mainstream media outlet have been in support of the looters. That’s just plain silly; all you have to know that it’s not true is to watch the coverage. If anything (like most ordinary people) the media have worried about how the looting will hijack the needed conversation on racial inequality.
But as we know, that has never stopped President Drumpf. Even if the truth is right before your eyes, he will lie about it.