The Trump administration is waging an authoritarian assault on civil rights as it target s universities — institutions often reviled by right-wingers — and tries to deport an activist who’s a legal permanent resident of the United States, all under the guise of thwarting antisemitism.

Meanwhile, some of the most prominent influencers in the conservative movement are praising Nazi apologists and defending Adolf Hitler.

An aptly named blog that closely tracks far-right extremism, AngryWhiteMen.org, published a detailed report on MAGA-aligned podcaster Joe Rogan’s recent praise for a Nazi apologist named Daryl Cooper, who faced fierce condemnation last year for defending Nazi Germany in a podcast interview with Tucker Carlson. On the podcast, Rogan promoted a variation of the racist and antisemitic “replacement theory” while discussing immigration and defended Cooper from allegations of Nazi apologism, saying his work is “very valuable to me, and it’s very valuable to human beings that want to hear this nuanced, comprehensive perspective on these conflicts.”

The AngryWhiteMen blog also recently published a thorough report on popular conservative influencer Jake Shields’ abhorrent claim that Hitler “wasn’t pushing hatred towards other races.”

And these aren’t isolated incidents. Hitler-loving rapper Ye and white nationalist influencer Nick Fuentes, whom Donald Trump hosted for dinner in 2022, were both seen this week in a since-deleted video posted by Ye on X, in which the rapper was wearing a swastika necklace seemingly made out of diamonds.

And Leo Terrell, the former Fox News contributor tapped to lead Trump’s so-called antisemitism task force, recently shared a prominent white nationalist’s tweet saying the president can “revoke someone’s Jew card,” in response to a tweet with footage of Trump’s antisemitic claim that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer “used to be Jewish — he’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian.”

All this to say: Don’t be gaslit. As the Trump administration uses claims of antisemitism to crack down on civil rights, the president is leading a movement growing more emboldened in its support for Nazi apologists, Nazi ideology and Hitler himself.

Ja'han Jones

Ja’han Jones is an MSNBC opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. He is a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include “Black Hair Defined” and the “Black Obituary Project.”