Trump’s alt-right fans bail after Syria strikes

Christopher Wilson
·Senior Writer


Throughout the campaign and the early days of his presidency, President Trump garnered near lockstep support from a number of alt-right leaders and conservative media members. While there were moments of wavering — such as when Trump muddled his positions on immigration and Obamacare — they mostly remained on his side.

After Trump approved missile strikes in Syria on Thursday night, that opinion changed. In sharp contrast to a majority of Republican politicians and many media pundits, the group of alt-right figures criticized Trump after supporting him over Hillary Clinton, who they saw as the more interventionist candidate. (Clinton also supported the strikes.)

Slideshow: U.S. attacks Syrian airbase >>>

Mike Cernovich, the alt-right conspiracy theorist and author praised by Donald Trump Jr. on Tuesday, spent much of Thursday night live streaming and tweeting against the military action and those in favor of it:

Conservative talk radio host and Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham, who was rumored as a potential candidate for White House press secretary during the transition, criticized the strike:

British political leader Nigel Farage, one of the strongest boosters of the Brexit movement and Trump ally, questioned how other Trump supporters would view the action:

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter — who wrote the book “In Trump We Trust” last year — continued her recent run of voicing her displeasure with the president:

Paul Joseph Watson, a popular right-wing YouTube personality and contributor to Alex Jones’ InfoWars conspiracy theory repository, joined the chorus:

Jones spent Thursday evening pushing the theory that the Syria attack was a hoax, false-flag attack or both:

White supremacist Richard Spencer, who coined the term “alt-right” and gained Internet infamy after a video of him being punched during Trump’s inauguration went viral, called Trump’s actions a “betrayal” and affirmed his support for Syrian President Bashar Assad:

And former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard and Louisiana politician David Duke joined the chorus, partially due to Israel’s support for the action:

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