The latest right-wing “antifa” hoax—namely, the claim that leftist arsonists have been secretly behind the wildfires that have swept the West Coast this month—is now being broadcast to millions of people. It bubbled up from the fever swamps of the far right, broadcast widely by key figures atop the media food chain: Donald Trump, Joe Rogan, Fox News, and leading Republican political candidates.
Trump retweeted an alt-right-flavored anti-Biden video suggesting he was ignoring antifa arsonists threatening the suburbs. Rogan, a wildly popular podcast host, told his audience that “left-wing people” were responsible for the fires (and apologized for it the next day). Fox News appeared especially eager to blame antifa for the wildfires as a way of denying the role of climate change. And in Washington state, where the fires have hit hard, the Republican nominee in the governor’s race joined in spreading the claims through a campaign video.
The hoax—which originated with far-right conspiracy theorists in the Pacific Northwest already on the warpath with antifascists—has been denounced by law-enforcement and firefighting officials throughout the West Coast, notably in the rural areas threatened most by the wildfires. Sheriffs in most of these areas have taken to the same social-media platforms (particularly Facebook) where the false rumors have spread to plead with their constituents to stop spreading false information. Continue reading.