There has been a 55% increase in white nationalist groups since 2017, according to a report released Wednesday by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
The report, "The Year in Hate and Extremism: 2019," adds there is growing violence and threats from these hate and extremist groups around the United States, including several which consider themselves "accelerationists" and believe "mass violence is necessary to bring about the collapse of our pluralistic society."
"Much of the movement's energy lies in the growing accelerationist wing, which, for the most part, is organized in informal online communities rather than formal groups," per the report.
The SPLC has been an anti-Trump activist group used to wage a "far-left smear organization that only wants to libel, slander, and defame this president with its lies," White House spokesman Judd Deere told The Associated Press.
"Their comments are disgusting, particularly while the president demonstrates unprecedented leadership to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19," Deere told AP.
The report did admit there has been a subtle decline in hate groups from 1,020 in 2018 to 940 in 2019, but the SPLC said that 8% decline "does not reflect a significant diminishment of the radical right."
"Trump didn't create the fear of nonwhite immigrants but rather harnessed it to win the White House in 2016 and continues to nurture it by fanning the flames of resentment within the most extreme elements of the Republican base," per the report.
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