In Rural Pennsylvania, Extremists Declare âVictory is Oursâ
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson brought his 12-state, cross-country to the presidential battleground of Pennsylvania late last month, providing a platform for the disgraced conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and other luminaries of the far right to promote their campaign of lies and disinformation about an America under siege by immigrants and a shadowy cabal of âglobalists.â
The Sept. 23 event at the 7,000-seat Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, was part of Carlsonâs 16-day tour of live, online broadcasts.
A mere two days earlier, Donald Trump running mate J.D. Vance with Carlson in the nearby town of Hershey. Other stops by Carlson have included former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, right-wing commentator and investor Dan Bongino, Turning Point USA head Charlie Kirk and British actor-turned-conspiracy-theorist .
On this day, Jones revved up the crowd as he compared the current moment to the Revolutionary War and portrayed the radical right as revolutionaries.
âWe all know that history repeats and rhymes,â Jones told the packed house. âAnd so, just like the kickoff of this country on July 4, 1776, started an hour away from here, thatâs why itâs coming right back. History repeats. The key battleground state again. The second battle is to save the republic.â
A Hatewatch reporter in attendance watched as spectators gave Jones a standing ovation and chanted â1776.â
Jones also complained about âglobalistsâ â far-right code for liberal elites, often Jewish people, who are allegedly undermining the country â but offered a measure of hope as Election Day approached.
âWe have the initiative,â he said. âWeâve turned the tide. Whether it takes six months or 20 years, weâre going to evict the globalists out of this country. Weâre going to restore the Republic. Victory is ours.â
Jones might not have been so ebullient the following day, when a approved a plan to auction off Infowars, the online media company Jones founded and owns, and its parent company, Free Speech Systems. The sale would help pay the $1.5 billion court judgment he owes to families of children murdered during the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The families sued Jones for defamation after he used his online forum to claim the shooting was a hoax. Twenty children, ages 6 and 7, were killed, in addition to six staff members.
âFive assassination teamsâ
The other headliner of the day was political operative Jack Posobiec, who has collaborated with white nationalists and neo-Nazis to produce and promote disinformation campaigns. Among them was the âStop the Stealâ campaign, whose supporters falsely asserted the 2020 election was fraudulent.
In a dialogue with Carlson, Posobiec portrayed the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July and the more recent arrest of an armed suspect as evidence of a conspiracy involving Trumpâs political enemies, including Ukraine. He described Ryan Routh, the 58-year-old man arrested at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, and charged with attempted assassination, as âa foreign fighterâ from Ukraine.
Multiple media outlets reported that Routh spent time in Ukraine and criticized Trump in a self-published book for not supporting the country in its war against Russia. A representative with Ukraineâs foreign legion told CNN in mid-September that even though Routh had tried to contact the group several times, he never was part of a military unit.
Among those Posobiec cited as providing evidence for the conspiracy theory was U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican who represents the western end of the Florida Panhandle.
Since his election to the U.S. House in 2016, Gaetz has been a prominent purveyor of far-right ideas and conspiracy theories.
âMatt Gaetz comes on my show a couple of days ago, and he says thereâs five assassination teams targeting Trump, three of which are foreign tied,â Posobiec said. Gaetz appeared on Posobiecâs show, âHuman Events Daily,â on Sept. 19.
A day after his appearance on Posobiecâs show, the online media outlet NOTUS reported that new documents filed in a Florida federal court showed that in 2017 Gaetz attended a âdrug-fueled sex partyâ with the 17-year-old girl at the center of an investigation of him for alleged sex trafficking and sexual misconduct involving a minor. Gaetz was with a crime, but he by the House Ethics Committee.
Shades of Springfield
Carlson, Jones and Posobiec all have promoted the racist conspiracy theory that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are stealing and eating pets. The Associated Press reported that, after Trump repeated the claim during the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, more than were made against schools, official government buildings and public officials, forcing several evacuations.
Jones and Posobiec brought the parade of lies to Pennsylvania.
Several hours before the Reading event, Jones posted a five-minute video to X (formerly Twitter), with the caption âAlex Jones Discovers Illegal Alien Invasion Hub.â In it, Jones recorded himself walking around downtown Lancaster, an eastern Pennsylvania city about 40 miles from Reading. He pointed to a brick building, which he referred to as the âCity of Lancaster Welcoming Center,â describing it as a hub for setting up migrants with social services.
âItâs just full of indoctrination,â Jones said.
A sign behind Jones outside of the Welcome Center advertises information about âTour & Activities,â and its website says it provides information for âvisitors and locals alike,â including recommendations about attractions, exhibits on Lancasterâs heritage and Lancaster-themed merchandise.
During the event, Posobiec, who is from neighboring Norristown, repeatedly referenced conspiracy theories regarding immigration and foreign aid when describing economic decline in his community.
âNone of this is happening by chance,â Posobiec said. âWe didnât lose our homes. We didnât lose our towns. We didnât lose our economy. We didnât lose our cities, like the great city of Philadelphia. And it was a great city, and it will be great again. We didnât lose it by chance. It was taken from us.â
Posobiec blamed public housing and immigration for having âdestroyed the health care systemâ in Norristown.
âThe hospital that I was born in is now a vacant lot next to a Planned Parenthood clinic,â Posobiec said.
Montgomery Hospital, a defunct hospital in Norristown, matches Posobiecâs description. It was shut down in 2012 and subsequently demolished, and the majority of its workers moved to a , according to the local newspaper, The Times Herald. In 2014, an outside developer announced plans to build on a portion of the lot.
Not everyone shares Posobiecâs view of immigrant life in Pennsylvania.
Monica Ruiz-Caraballo, executive director of the nonprofit Casa San JosĂŠ, told Hatewatch that immigrants have been key to revitalizing the economies of towns and cities throughout the state. Her group provides resources to and advocates for the Latinx community in Allegheny County, where Pittsburgh is located.
âThey really came into these neighborhoods and really started to revitalize the structures that were there,â Ruiz-Caraballo said. âImmigrants open businesses at a rate much higher than American-born people.â
Regarding Posobiecâs claims about the health care system, she said the immigrants for whom she provides services are eager to pay their bills. âThey want to prove to the government that âIâve been paying my taxes. I am worthy of staying here.ââ
âJust because someone says something loud and often doesnât mean that itâs true,â she added.
Bridging the fringe and the mainstream
Carlsonâs tour exemplified the erosion of barriers between figures such as Jones, who were once seen as voices on the far-right fringe, and more mainstream right-wing politicians and institutions.
Outside the arena, an apparent member of Trump Force 47, a group of volunteer neighborhood organizers, whose is located near the arena, approached attendees regarding voter registration. Others stood in a cluster near a stream of customers purchasing T-shirts celebrating Carlsonâs live tour.
Nestled in between two sections of stadium seating was a table from the Convention of States Action, a to demand a new constitutional convention for the purpose of limiting the federal governmentâs power. Founded in 2014 and led by Mark Meckler, a onetime Tea Party activist, from âdark moneyâ funds with ties to prominent Republican donors, including the Koch brothers and Mercer family.
Elsewhere in the arenaâs crowded concessions area, Turning Point USA handed out pocket Constitutions as attendees wandered by.
Members of Early Vote Action, an organization founded by Republican activist and , approached attendees to encourage them to register to vote inside the arena.
On stage, Carlson, who has repeatedly praised Jones, addressed concerns that the Infowars host could harm the right.
âI will always believe, and I will always say in public that Alex Jones is the most extraordinary person Iâve ever met,â Carlson said. âIâm sick of it. And I honestly said, âAlex Jones is my friend.â Thereâs nothing to be ashamed of.â
As attendees poured out into the streets of Reading after the event, some cheered two cars carrying Infowars affiliates. One man, wearing a green T-shirt and backward baseball hat, bowed as the cars passed by on their way from the stadium.
âInfowars forever!â shouted a fan.
â1776!â shouted another.
Image at top: From left: Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson brought his road show to Reading, Pennsylvania, last month, sharing the stage with far-right luminaries Alex Jones and Jack Posobiec (Credit: °Ä˛ĘżŞ˝ą).
