Hi there! Welcome to Easy A–Your go-to source for quick and easy actions you can take in five minutes or less about the issues you care about.

Have you seen extremists on the far-right trying to connect with certain groups of voters? We’ve talked before about how they target young women; now, let’s look at how they target young men.

One of the most insidious actors is Turning Point USA, an extreme-right organization run by Charlie Kirk that targets youth across the country. Kirk’s goal is to recruit young people into the far-right movement by making conservatism seem “cool.” They project a clean-cut, straight-laced image in an effort to appear less threatening than other far-right extremist groups, hoping that they can draw more people in and make their radical ideas seem normal.

Turning Point’s messaging is not really “conservative.” Instead, it centers around white male “grievances,” claiming to be victims of liberal values like equality and inclusion. They want to return society to what they consider to be “traditional” values, but what the Anti-Defamation League has identified as sexist gender roles and racist and antisemitic goals. Kirk knows this rhetoric appeals to young men who are feeling disrespected and isolated because it validates their feelings. Turning Point USA offers them a community and a sense of belonging. Once they lure in vulnerable followers by talking about these issues, they expose them to their more radical ideas. Their end goal is to promote a more authoritarian, anti-democratic government in the U.S.

In fact, one of the overarching themes that Turning Point USA promotes is that the U.S. is not a democracy. It gets worse, because their messaging is also filled with hyper-masculine and aggressive themes of defiance, revolution, violence, and guns. They prop up people including Donald Trump, who consistently incites violence, and Kyle Rittenhouse, who murdered Black Lives Matter protesters, as heroes. This is especially dangerous because we know that Turning Point keeps a “professor watchlist” and a “school board watch” to name and monitor educators and administrators who they don’t agree with. Stoking rage with this kind of messaging while idolizing violence and keeping lists of perceived enemies is a recipe for disaster.

Kirk and Turning Point USA started off by speaking on college campuses, where they knew they could reach large audiences of people who are in a vulnerable time of transition and self-exploration. They’ve now expanded their reach through social media campaigns, TV and other forms of media, political campaigns, faith-based activities, and their own AmericaFest conference. They have more than 10 million followers online.

The good news is, there are many groups of young people who are countering Turning Point USA’s message, so we need to support them! Red Wine & Blue helps women engage in our local schools and communities and in the coming weeks, we’ll keep talking about what we can do to stop Turning Point USA from radicalizing young men.

Over the past two weeks, we’ve learned how women can be drawn into the alt-right movement after joining seemingly harmless online communities that promote “healthy,” “clean,” or “traditional” lifestyles. We even watched a few women, Dominique and Samantha, describe how they experienced this radicalization themselves. 

Both women now speak out about the dangers of these movements and how women can avoid going down this path, and Samantha works for a nonprofit that helps people leave extremist movements and rebuild their lives. One thing both women — and other experts we’ve spoken with — have all shared is how big a role disinformation plays in the recruitment and radicalization of women in extremist movements.

That’s why it’s so important for all of us to be able to spot disinformation and stop its spread. And it just so happens that tonight, Red Wine & Blue is hosting an event to teach you how to do just that!

So here’s your Easy A action for this week: register for tonight’s virtual Troublemaker Training, Disinformation 101: How to Identify and Fight It! 

Even if you aren’t able to make it to the live event, if you register, we’ll send you the recording so you can watch it whenever you do have the time! And since fighting extremism is even better with friends, if you have an extra minute, share this information with people you know. Together, we can inform people and help keep them away from the dangers of disinformation and the alt-right.

Last week you read about Dominique and how her evangelical upbringing led her to a “trad wife” lifestyle, and then eventually to the extremism of QAnon. This gradual process isn’t uncommon, but it’s only one of many ways women get drawn into the alt-right movement. 

Some women find their way to the alt-right through the trad wife movement like Dominique, but others are drawn to it from their interest in health and wellness, or living a more “natural” lifestyle. Some have even been drawn to the alt-right after trying to debunk conspiracy theories or just trying to learn more about it – initially wanting to oppose it! Hear from some of these women in this one minute video:

No matter how women get into the movement, they are an integral part of the alt-right. The presence of women helps attract men — and other women — to the movement, giving it a safe, family-friendly feel. 

To learn more about the role of women in the alt-right movement and the paths that lead them to extremism, check out The Cost of Extremism podcast episode, The Crunchy Mom to Alt-Right Pipeline, available here or anywhere you get your podcasts. And next week, we’ll talk about what we can all do to keep women from heading down this dangerous path.