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Far-right opposition towards election results:
After a year of unprecedented events and civil unrest, the presidential election
intensified political polarisation, with both Democrats and Republicans adopting
increasingly polarised positions. Under the encouragement of Donald Trump,
numerous far-right groups held strong opposition towards the election results,
engaging in activities that ranged from actively participating and organising
protests, to the propagation of unfounded conspiracy theories.
The ‘Stop the Steal’ movement
was founded by right-wing extremists
following Trump’s encouragement on
Twitter to ‘Stop the Count’. The far-
right conservative campaign and
protest movement attempted to
manipulate the vote-counting procedure against Biden and promote the
conspiracy theory that widespread electoral fraud was occurring during the
election. These protests saw the participation of various far-right extremist groups such as the Three Percenters, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. 129 These
groups and individuals who had been circling the Republican sphere throughout
the year were, once again, exploiting the divisive climate amidst the election, and
portrayed their extreme ideologies as the alternative to the perceived liberal
overreach.
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