The Radical Right During Crisis

The government’s lack of response early on was cast as a malicious project of concealment by those in power. Specifically, Oath Keepers argued that it was part of a deep-state plot to undermine Trump. Although Trump was the actor publicly downplaying COVID-19, the Oath Keepers did not place the blame on him personally. Rather, they suggested Trump was ignoring the severity of the crisis due to the “terrible advice” he was receiving from deep state 8forces including the CDC and other globalists.

Early statements from the Oath Keepers’ leadership on their official website and Twitter feeds suggested that COVID-19 was a dangerous virus whose severity was beyond that which was being shared with the general public. 9Leaders supported medical professionals 10in their assessment of the crisis and called for government intervention 11at the state and federal level. Furthermore, they cited Trump’s inaction as proof of a deep state conspiracy in which the globalist elites were misleading Trump into downplaying the severity of the virus.

By the end of March/beginning of April 2020, Oath Keepers spokespersons shifted from a call for increasing intervention to blasting the overreach of government officials. They viewed the globalist elites as opportunists, using the crisis to encroach upon the Second Amendment 12right to bear arms 13and First Amendment 14freedom of assembly. 15Although spokespersons had called for a ban on large assemblies 16in previous articles, the act of prolonged government intervention appeared to spark intense backlash.

Additionally, Oath Keepers leaders were suspicious of elites’ economic aims: suggesting required vaccinations and the disparagement of hydroxychloroquine 17for treating COVID-19 18were ways in which the globalists could make money in the treatment of COVID-19.

Oath Keeper spokespersons noted a seeming prioritization of “globalist” aims over national freedoms in intervention efforts, pointing to an early hesitation to close international air traffic but a speedy move towards domestic lock-down.

At the onset of COVID-19, the perceived conspiracy revolved around deep-state officials downplaying the virus, encouraging Trump not to take direct action. Over time, however, the conspiracy evolved into profound overreach, accusing globalists of using the virus as a means to strip individuals of their liberty. Interestingly, Trump was not blamed directly for this overreach; rather, Oath Keeper officials queried why Trump was allowing the globalists to continue to surround him especially when his own base was against it.

Overall, Oath Keeper leadership’s understanding of the COVID-19 crisis morphed from a purposeful inaction by elites to their capitalization on the crisis by taking away personal liberties, gun rights, painting Trump in a negative light, and benefitting economically.

By mid-April 2020 public messaging by the Oath Keepers became a call for followers to fight back against perceived government intrusion. Although spokespersons were not arguing that the virus did not exist, they repeated Trump’s statement about the cure being worse than the virus, viewing the situation as the deep state making inroads in taking over individual liberty.

They praised local government officials who disagreed 19with federal and state mandates regarding social distancing, advertised for lockdown protests, and spoke out against social media figures 20censoring lockdown protest events.

Moreover, they disparaged local actors who implemented lockdown orders as puppets for globalist elites.

While this is in line with anti-government ideology overall, it is curiously pro-Trump. That is, when Trump did not act strongly enough in the face of COVID-19, this was perceived not as his inadequacy but rather as a complot by deep-state actors feeding him bad information about the virus’s banality. Similarly, when Trump supported increased government regulation (maligned by Oath Keepers) this was again not due to Trump’s mal intent but rather yet another deep-state plot to strip individuals of personal freedoms.

Although Trump is not blamed per se there are calls for him to intercede on behalf of citizens by removing the “deep-state elites” and changing the regulations he “let happen”—a passive framing as opposed to was actively seen as creating.

In sum, throughout ideological contradictions and changing perception of events on the ground, the consistent thread within Oath Keepers messaging is that Trump’s positive actions– i.e., those consistent with the ideology of Oath Keepers—are a result of his personal attitudes and behaviours, while his negative actions are the consequence of deep-state plots to undermine him. Overall, Trump is praised as being the only US president notto take advantage of a crisis to centralize power 21but rather to de-regulate and de-centralize as response. While the future of COVID-19 remains uncertain, an Oath Keeper re-tweet from the end of April 2020 summarizes one individual’s views:

Jaclyn Foxis a Doctoral Fellow at CARR and doctoral candidate in international relations at American University, Washington, D.C.