A generation ago, community activists successfully bankrupted and ousted a white supremacist hate group that had taken root among the tall pines and crystal clear lakes of northern Idaho. It was a hard-earned triumph – one that North Idahoans were proud of.
But today, some of these activists and residents fear that hateful ideologies return to their region.
This time, they say, the threat no longer lies on the fringes of society, dressed in Nazi costumes and hiding in the woods. Instead, they say they see it in the leadership of the local Republican Party, which has reflected the rightward shift of the national conservative movement during the Trump era on issues of race, religion and sexuality. The intolerance of the past, they say, now enjoys mainstream political cover.
Today, in “Post Reports”, reporter on extremism and domestic terrorism Hannah Allam talks with host Martine Powers about self-described “mainstream” Republicans who have spent the past two years plotting to regain control of leaders they accused of steering the local GOP toward extremism — accusations that these officials vehemently denied. And Hannah takes stock of their fate.
Today’s show was produced by Rennie Svirnovskiy. It was edited by Renita Jablonski and Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the episode.
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