Since the selection of President-Elect Trump, there has been a marked rise in the population of the “Alt-Right.” It’s a party that promotes far-right ideologies and is defined by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “groups and individuals whose core belief is that ‘white identity’ is under attack by multicultural forces using ‘political correctness’ and ‘a social justice’ to undermine white people and “their” civilization.” (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/alternative-right). The Alt-Right is known for their use of social media and memes including the popular Pepe the Frog.

This term was coined in 2008 by Richard Spencer but until the 2015-2016 election cycle has seen little use. Alt-Right news platform, Breitbart, argues that the majority of objections from the left and establishment conservatives objections of antisemitism, racism, and white supremacy is merely a result of the mostly young base of alt-right supporters joking about things that are socially unacceptable to fly in the face of “political correctness”(http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/03/29/an-establishment-conservatives-guide-to-the-alt-right/). Research fellow of the Anti-Defamation league Marylin Mayo in an interview with the Toronto Star, however, believes that “They think it’s all in good fun, too. They are anti-Semitic, they know what they’re doing is anti-Semitic, but they think it’s funny” (https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/08/26/what-americas-alt-right-movement-wants-and-what-makes-it-different.html).

But even the Alt-Right movement finds it difficult to define itself, while the majority believe in white nationalism many disagree with the white nationalist or white supremacist label. The movement also has disparities between true neo-nazis, a.k.a. the 1488-ers, and those who simply follow a nationalist set of ideals. This movement is unified by the support of President-Elect Trump although he has stated that, “I don’t want to energize the group. I’m not looking to energize them. I don’t want to energize the group, and I disavow the group,” during an interview with New York Times Reporters.

The growth of this movement, from grassroots political ideology to the forefront of today political field, certainly raises questions about the politics of identity and the impact of the social media sphere on the political world.