The Trump administration has escalated its crackdown on what it calls “far-left terrorism” in recent days, though the move actually exposed a growing fear within the White House about losing its grip on power, political writer Caitlin Johnstone argued in an analysis published Friday.
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On Thursday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller previewed the Trump administration’s renewed crusade against what it argues to be far-left extremists, vowing to “defund, debank” and “arrest these political terrorists.” In recent months, however, the Trump administration has broadly expanded its definition of terrorism, adding new indicators such as publicly expressing “anti-Americanism” views.
The crusade, Johnstone argued in an analysis published on her Substack, bore striking similarities to the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) started in the 1950s to illegally disrupt and discredit leftist and anti-war movements in the United States.
“Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI conducted covert operations under COINTELPRO to infiltrate and subvert Black civil rights groups, the Communist Party USA, Vietnam War protester organizations, and feminist groups with the goal of stomping out all meaningful leftward political [movements] in the United States,” Johnstone wrote.
“It’s clear the rightists in the White House are aiming for something far more aggressive, and FBI Director Kash Patel sounds super stoked about the chance to become a 21st century J Edgar Hoover.”
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However, the crackdown actually revealed a weakness on the part of the Trump administration, Johnstone argued, one that she argued “should inspire hope.”
“The fact that this is happening in the first place should inspire hope, not despair. The empire managers aren’t ramping up authoritarianism because it’s easy and fun; they’re doing it because they need to,” she wrote.
“They know they’re losing their grip, and they know that they are vastly outnumbered by the ordinary human beings who just want a better world for their children. They are afraid. And they are afraid because they are losing. Keep pushing.”
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