Guerrero: The rise of the MAGA Latino isn’t real, but it could be in 2024.
Editor’s note: This piece is an updated version of one written for this week by the New York Times on the state of Latino identity politics.
In the last week, a handful of MAGA Latinos have made news, but none with nearly the power of David Hogg. The student who became a national face and voice for the movement is not a Latino. Hogg was born in Canada. He has been embraced and lionized by the left as a member of the Alt Right, an online right-wing subculture that has thrived among white, male, and white-identifying men since the election of Donald Trump.
On Saturday, Hogg declared that “if we could take back San Francisco, we would.”
On Thursday, Hogg told Fox News that he and his friends are not going to attend a “hate rally.”
He has also expressed his admiration for the white nationalist Richard Spencer and his white supremacist movement. Hogg has retweeted the racist statement by Spencer that “European American” is “the enemy.”
And in this interview, Hogg defended the actions of white nationalist Richard Spencer, saying: “He’s an idiot. That is not a racist statement, and if you think it is, you are stupid. You don’t know me, my friends, my family, who I am. You have no idea. This is ridiculous.”
These statements have gained notoriety, as has Hogg’s status as a national celebrity.
As a leader in a white student community, Hogg has tapped into a powerful energy that is being felt across the country by groups and individuals who oppose President Trump and promote hate speech.
Trump voters, not Mexican immigrants, are the real face of the alt-right movement.
The alt-right, as it’s referred to in the alt-right community, was born out of a group of white men who came together online in 2015 — and who were soon embraced by the Trump campaign as supporters and allies.
The alt-right is a broad movement and one not easily categorized.
