Trump fans' 'Deploraball' party shows
rift in alt-right movement
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[December 30, 2016]
By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Supporters of U.S.
President-elect Donald Trump have appropriated the phrase "basket of
deplorables" - used by Hillary Clinton during the campaign to pillory
some of his backers - to plan an inauguration party called the
"Deploraball."
But while the intention might be to mock the defeated Democratic
candidate, the planned gathering has revealed a deep schism within the
ranks of a movement known as the alt-right: pitting those embracing
white nationalism or outright racism against those seeking a more
credible platform for hard-right conservatives.
The party will be held at the National Press Club in Washington the
night before Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20, when many official
inauguration events are taking place.
Organizers say the Deploraball is a cocktail party for Trump supporters
from all ethnic backgrounds and no incendiary or discriminatory actions
will be allowed. Organizers call themselves "Trumpists" and say they
have sold 1,000 tickets ranging in price from $99 to $2,500. But after
an online battle between star guests, Deploraball organizers offered
ticket holders refunds "in light of recent events."
One of the original organizers of the ball, alt-right social media
personality Tim Treadstone who is commonly referred to by his online
persona "Baked Alaska," has been disinvited after tweeting several
anti-Semitic comments, setting off angry exchanges among members of the
alt-right on Twitter.
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Another featured guest at the party, Mike Cernovich, has condemned
Treadstone for appearing anti-Semitic and homophobic.
"The lines are drawn and the fracture is more or less complete," he
said.
Cernovich, an architect of viral Internet trends promoting rumors of
Clinton's supposed ill health that have been credited with helping push
Trump to victory with the support of the alt-right, said he has rejected
the alt-right's descent into white nationalism.
The alt-right movement, which came to the fore during the presidential
campaign, is a loose grouping that rejects mainstream politics and
includes neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites. It had
previously been more widely embraced by libertarians and the far-right
fringe: people more opposed to the concept of political correctness than
to racial or other diversity.
Trump has been criticized for naming Steve Bannon, former head of the
Breitbart News website that is closely linked to the alt-right, as a
senior White House adviser.
Days after the Nov. 8 election, the movement was strongly criticized
when some Trump supporters gave Nazi salutes to alt-right leader Richard
Spencer, president of the National Policy Institute, during a gathering
in Washington to celebrate Trump's victory.
The incident prompted some figures linked with the alt-right to assume
the term "new right" to describe themselves instead.
In an interview with New York Times journalists last month, Trump
condemned the alt-right conference organized by Spencer. "I condemn
them. I disavow, and I condemn," Trump said.
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'NO NAZI SALUTES'
After Treadstone posted anti-Jewish tweets over the past week, Cernovich
told him not to repeat the so-called "hailgate" scandal at Deploraball.
"No Nazi salutes ... or don't have your name on the event," Cernovich
wrote in a series of insult-filled text messages to Treadstone that were
later posted on Twitter.
The argument raged on social media between the two southern
California-based men, who were once friends, egged on by their fans.
"You used the movement and now you want to distance yourself from it,"
Treadstone, wearing pastel-colored camouflage apparel and a bleached
blond beard, said in one 45-minute video post.
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![](../images/123016pics/news_v37.jpg)
A supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stands
in the audience at a campaign rally in Laconia, New Hampshire, U.S.,
September 15, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar
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The Republican president-elect, Trump, has not been formally invited
to the event nor is he expected to attend, but "of course we'd be
thrilled if he did," said one organizer, Jeff Giesea. Trump's
transition team was not immediately available for comment on the
party.
In remarks she quickly said she regretted, Clinton told a fundraiser
in September that Trump had given voice to hateful rhetoric through
his behavior as a candidate and that "half" of his supporters
belonged in a "basket of deplorables." Trump supporters seized on
the phrase as typifying snobbish put-downs by coastal elites.
The Deploraball was initially planned for the Clarendon Ballroom in
Arlington, Virginia, but organizers said the venue was switched
because of pressure on the Clarendon from Clinton supporters. The
Clarendon, a private events venue and nightclub, denied that and
said in a statement it decided not to issue a contract "due to the
suspicious actions of the organizers."
Performers will include singer Scott Isbell and classical pianist
Stephen Limbaugh, according to the organizers, who have also invited
rapper Kanye West but have not heard back. Treadstone, a former
rapper and orchestrator of pro-Trump flash-mobs, had also been
scheduled to perform.
BREITBART TECH EDITOR
Another guest star will be Breitbart's U.S. technology editor, Milo
Yiannopoulos, organizers say.
Yiannopoulos has been criticized for comments he has made about
Muslims, Black Lives Matter activists and feminists. Twitter banned
him in July for inciting harassment of the actress Leslie Jones. The
Hollywood Reporter reported on Thursday he had secured a book deal
and quoted him as saying, "They said banning me from Twitter would
finish me off. Just as I predicted, the opposite has happened."
(http://bit.ly/2hzszWy)
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Treadstone said the main difference between himself and the
so-called new right, including Cernovich and Yiannopoulos, is the
explicit support of white nationalism.
"If you don't support white advocacy, you cannot be alt-right and
that's where a lot of people are running into a problem," he told
Reuters.
Cernovich, who says Treadstone is increasingly fixated on Jewish
conspiracy theory, said the branch of former alt-righters he belongs
to are more inclusive and are primarily focused on populism,
nationalism and the rejection of "victim culture and identity
politics."
The group also has no clear leader, unlike with white nationalist
alt-right, which looks to Spencer, he said.
Giesea described "Trumpism" as a new breed of Republicanism and said
it was still a work-in-progress. "We're in the process of
constructing it, and it's messy," he said.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Frances
Kerry)
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