Dr. Peter Simi, a well-known sociology expert from Chapman University, dropped a bombshell during his testimony on October 31, 2023, in a Colorado courtroom. Dr. Peter shed light on how former President Donald Trump managed to appeal to far-right extremists while keeping his hands clean with more moderate voters.
This whole deal is about whether Trump should be allowed to run for president again, based on his alleged role in sparking an insurrection, as reported by Raw Story on October 31, 2023.
Dr. Simi started his testimony with a deep dive into Trump’s political tactics, using clips from Trump’s presidential announcement in 2015. Back then, Trump stirred controversy by accusing Mexican immigrants of being rapists and drug dealers but also said, And some, I assume, are good people. Dr. Simi argued that this was Trump’s way of having a backup plan – pleasing the far-right folks while keeping the door open for the moderates.
According to Dr. Simi, this strategy was a common theme in Trump’s talk. For example, when Trump mentioned very fine people at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, he was quick to distance himself from supporting Nazis.
Interestingly, white supremacist leaders like Richard Spencer, David Duke, and The Daily Stormer’s Andrew Anglin praised Trump for his very fine people comment, even though he distanced himself from the Nazis.
The climax of this whole calculated approach, as Dr. Simi explained, happened on January 6th, 2021, when groups like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers interpreted Trump’s call for a wild protest against the 2020 election as a green light to storm the U.S. Capitol.
This showed just how much influence Trump’s words had on these extremist groups, who saw his words as a signal to start an insurrection.
To make it real, Dr. Simi showed a video of Alex Jones. In December 2021, Jones reacted to one of Trump’s tweets, saying it would be the most important call to action since Paul Revere’s ride during the American Revolutionary War.
According to Dr. Simi, this showed how much sway Trump had over big names in the far-right, who saw his words as a call to action, possibly sparking more unrest.
