If there’s anything the MAGA movement loves, it’s a rally with a bunch of speakers who can be counted on to blend “anti-wokeness,” conspiracy theories, Christian nationalism, and hero-worship of Donald Trump.
The latest assemblage, traveling under the name of Rescue the Republic, will grace the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Sept. 29, with the stated mission of mobilizing Americans to save the republic and western civilization itself from “a conglomerate of industrial complexes.”
The speaker lineup includes Trump booster Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Sen. Ron Johnson, Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, Moms for Liberty’s Tiffany Justice, Pizzagate promoter Jack Posobiec, Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, anti-feminist public intellectual Jordan Peterson, anti-vaccine activist Del Bigtree, and journalist Matt Taibbi. Also speaking is #WalkAway founder Brandon Straka, who was sentenced to three years of probation for his role in inciting the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
A video promoting the event warns of shadowy forces manipulating world events. “Today the curtain has been pulled back to reveal the liars at the levers,” intones a narrator over images from the Wizard of Oz. “They are masters of deception, hell-bent to divide and conquer. Like magicians, they use the art of redirection to keep us distracted as they trick us. Nearly every war we have fought was initiated by their propaganda.”
“Everything we have fought for, everything we’ve earned, and everything we love is under attack,” the narrator says, “At what point do we say, enough is enough.’?”
Rescue the Republic claims to represent a “rebel alliance” of people “of every culture, creed, and ideology” who “are putting politics aside” to “secure peace and freedom.” Libertarian Party chair Angela McArdle is listed as a founder of the group, the latest iteration of a coalition of “COVID-19 dissidents” that rallied against vaccine requirements as “Defeat the Mandates.” They later organized a right-left coalition against U.S. aid to Ukraine under the banner, “Rage Against the War Machine,” which is holding a rally on Saturday.
We will have to see how many MAGA-movement speakers “put politics aside” on Sunday.
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