On a Far-Right Movement Beyond Trump: A podcast with Heidi Beirich

It’s tough enough to get Americans to realize that if Donald Trump wins in November, it would most likely mean the end of representative democracy in the United States. Even tougher, however, is to make Americans aware that even if Trump doesn’t win, many authoritarian policy changes are already being rolled out in states like Texas and Alabama. So says Heidi Beirich, an expert on far-right movements in the United States and Europe. Leading the charge, Beirich says, is the Heritage Foundation, a longtime conservative think tank that has steered to the extreme right in recent years. In April 2022, the foundation and a coalition of think tanks and organizations released a 900-plus page blueprint, called Project 2025, for radically restructuring the U.S. government by integrating it with Christian nationalism. Beirich, cofounder of the Global Project against Hate and Extremism, discusses Project 2025 and the Far Right’s efforts to convert the United States into an authoritarian, Christian nationalist country. Beirich also discusses how the antidemocratic movement in the United States mirrors other movements globally, which are on the rise and target immigrants, people of color, women, and LGBTQ communities. “We are very close to losing our system of government,” she warns.