Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist

by Eli Saslow

“We have been trying to recruit these same disaffected whites that Trump is going after—it’s the exact same audience,” Don said, shortly after Trump secured the Republican nomination in the late spring of 2016. “Everybody may not want to call themselves a white nationalist. That sounds a little scary, but it’s the same principle. He is tapping into the fact that race is still a huge part of identity. He’s accelerating the timeline of our movement by several decades by making many millions of people more racially aware. Before, nobody really knew what a white nationalist was. Now he’s given us this incredible platform.” That realization made Don think again about Derek: If only he had stayed! “It’s hard to even fathom the impact he could be having right now,” Don said. Don knew of several white nationalist organizations that had arranged trips to the Republican National Convention in July 2016, including an unofficial delegation from Stormfront. One white nationalist from California was selected to participate as a delegate; another white nationalist, the radio host James Edwards, was granted a press credential and an interview with Donald Trump Jr. The media circus surrounding the convention created a gigantic megaphone for young white nationalist leaders—“the