From the early days of the pandemic to the fever-pitched and riotous last days of the Trump presidency, Wisconsin’s conservative movement was swept up in conspiracies and extremism in 2020.
Over the past year, online provocateurs, fringe lawyers, Republican lawmakers, wealthy donors, militias and right-wing media created a feedback loop that poisoned politics in Wisconsin and the country. This web became a mechanism of radicalization, starting with Facebook groups formed to organize protests against coronavirus lockdowns and culminating in the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.
Anti-government sentiment, mistrust of experts, racial dog whistling and flirtation with violence aren’t new to the American conservative movement. But in 2020, the Republican party leaned in. Whether they were attacking the officials and methods trying to protect people from a deadly virus or lying about election results, Republican officials in Wisconsin and across the country moved beyond winking toward and fully embraced a politics of conflict, conspiracy and violence. How it started is a chicken and egg situation.