Donald Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden featured overt hate speech and inflammatory jokes, underscoring how divisive language has permeated the GOP’s messaging. Analysts warn that Trump’s rhetoric has removed political guardrails against open racism, embedding far-right ideologies into the party’s core.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer insight, analysis and commentary on the evolution of the GOP and current criticisms of their ideology. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact the GW Media Relations team at [email protected].
Historians of Right-Wing Politics
Matt Dallek, a professor at GW’s Graduate School of Political Management, is a political historian with expertise in the intersection of social crises and political transformation, the evolution of the modern conservative movement, and liberalism and its critics. Along with four co-authored books, Dallek is the author of Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right, which explores the history and influence of America’s right-wing activism.
Steven Livingston is the Founding Director of the GW Institute for Data, Democracy, and Politics and a professor of media and public affairs. Livingston's research and teaching focus on media/information technology and political theory. He is particularly interested in the role of information technologies and media on democracy.
Extremism
Jon Lewis is a Research Fellow at the GW Program on Extremism, where he studies domestic terrorism, with a specialization in the evolution of white supremacist and anti-government movements in the United States and federal responses to the threat. Lewis has spoken about how political rhetoric can embolden extremists and incite violence.
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