They’ve been Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters: the conservatives, libertarians, anarchists, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and Breitbart readers who comprise the alt right. When he waded back into the immigration debate with a primetime speech from Phoenix on Wednesday night, many of them seemed worried that he was about to “soften” his position in an attempt to appeal to moderates in the general election.
In the first few minutes of the speech, when the National Review’s Jonah Goldberg wrote, “This parade of horribles is the set up for the softening,” the conservative blog Radix Journal replied, nervously: “Maybe, but I can’t see him saying ‘so now we’re going to give amnesty’ after this.”
An hour into the speech, they were jubilant.
And Mexico will pay!! The hardening continues
— Radix Journal (@RadixJournal) September 1, 2016
This is an incredible pro-American, law & order speech.
— CNN Is Hitler (@NolteNC) September 1, 2016
Bold.
Detailed.
Unapologetic.
Trump's in command, presidential, focused.
I think I'll watch this speech every night before going to bed so that I will sleep like a baby.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 1, 2016
Extreme Vetting. @LordoftheEdge @RadixJournal pic.twitter.com/9TbRfomnZM
— Richard B. Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) September 1, 2016
It’s not hard to see why they would be so pleased. In his speech, Trump did little, if anything, to moderate his language on immigration, and instead doubled down on pleasing his base: the alt right voters, from Ricky Vaughn to Anne Coulter, crowing on Twitter right now.
So the pivot is from hard right to alt right
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) September 1, 2016