MSNBC piece claims 'health & fitness' is new gateway drug to the far-right
By victort1 // 2022-03-29
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MSNBC published an article claiming that shadowy people on the Telegram messenger service are recruiting far-right acolytes by talking about health and fitness. (Article by Paul Joseph Watson republished from Summit.news) Yes, really. Apparently, health and fitness is the new gateway drug to the far-right. An article headlined ‘Pandemic fitness trends have gone extreme — literally’ asserts that online fascist gym bros are colonizing mixed “martial arts (MMA) and combat sports spaces” as some kind of secret plot to amplify “neo-Nazi and white supremacist extremist ideologies.” “Physical fitness has always been central to the far right,” writes Cynthia Miller-Idriss, who previously wrote articles smearing the Canadian trucker protesters as far-right extremists. Being into “the male body, training, masculinity, testosterone, strength and competition” and embracing “messaging around solidarity, heroism, and brotherhood” is apparently a bad thing and a precursor to racial violence. The columnist claims that people who link physical training and fitness with “promoting the concept that physical warriors are needed to create the strength and dominance to defend one’s people from a perceived enemy” are creating cadres of white supremacist radicals. No concrete examples of any of what is claimed in the article are presented. Respondents reacted by slamming MSNBC for stirring up more harmful divisiveness. “Ok Guys now you’ve done it. Now you’ve literally politicized something which should have been left alone. Good job guys you morons,” commented one. “Wtf, i did 10 pushups and now there’s a swastika tattoo on my shoulder,” joked another. “I mean at this point you just make being far right sound healthy and cool,” remarked another. Read more at: Summit.news
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