MAGA wages campaign to redefine "hate" after Kirk killing

MAGA activists have launched a crusade against two of the nation's most storied civil rights watchdogs, accusing them of smearing conservatives as extremists.Why it matters: For decades, the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center have shaped America's understanding of hate. MAGA leaders — backed by the Trump administration and Elon Musk — are now trying to strip them of that influence.Zoom in: FBI Director Kash Patel severed ties this week between the bureau and both the ADL and SPLC, the government's decades-long partners in tracking extremist networks, training FBI agents and consulting on hate-crime enforcement.The rupture followed MAGA outrage that both organizations had listed Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA in their online resources about hate groups.The ADL accused Kirk's group of drawing "support from anti-Muslim bigots, alt-lite activists and some corners of the white supremacist alt-right," while the SPLC included the group on its "hate map," saying it has ties to "hard-right extremists."Both pages predated Kirk's assassination, which MAGA activists argue was incited by the left's use of charged labels such as "fascist" and "Nazi." The ADL and SPLC both condemned the assassination.Amid the backlash, the ADL removed its "Glossary of Extremism," saying some of the entries were outdated and were being "intentionally misrepresented and misused."The SPLC kept its page posted, telling Axios: "We remain committed to exposing hate and extremism as we work to equip communities with knowledge and defend the rights and safety of marginalized people."What they're saying: MAGA influencers have accused the groups of embodying the type of hate they were founded to combat."They are both part of an ecosystem leveraged by radical left vigilantes to dehumanize conservatives and stoke political violence. They provide the sheen of legitimacy for the left's violent foot soldiers," posted Kirk spokesman Andrew Kolvet.Musk, who previously blamed the ADL for advertisers fleeing X over anti-semitic content, called both organizations "evil" and guilty of inciting Kirk's slaying."ADL has deep respect for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement officers at all levels across the country who work tirelessly every single day to protect all Americans regardless of their ancestry, religion, ethnicity, faith, political affiliation or any other point of difference," the ADL said in a statement."In light of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism, we remain more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people."Between the lines: Kirk drew scrutiny for comments about Islam being "incompatible with the West" and warnings about the "great replacement" of whites — rhetoric the watchdogs saw as echoing extremist talking points.To many conservatives, that rhetoric doesn't merit a "hate" label: Its rejection by the mainstream is evidence that liberal elites are steering America away from what they see as its white Christian foundations.MAGA sees the clash with the ADL and SPLC as less about Kirk than the freedom to debate politics and demographics without being branded hateful.In other words, a movement consumed with fighting "cancel culture" is seeking to redraw the boundaries of permissible speech by targeting the referees."Charlie never believed in speech codes, and neither do we," said Jack Posobiec, a MAGA podcaster and longtime Kirk friend who has helped lead the campaigns against the ADL and SPLC.Context: MAGA's backlash to the civil rights groups comes as the number of hate crimes in the past few years hit record levels. Analysts say antisemitic crimes rose again last year.More than half of hate crimes recorded last year involved attacks motivated by race or ethnicity, the FBI Crime Data Explorer database showed.Black Americans were the most targeted group, followed by Jewish Americans, then gay men, according to the data.What to watch: MAGA's efforts to take down the ADL and SPLC go beyond just government partnerships.Activists are now pressuring PayPal over its use of ADL and SPLC research to bar "extremists" from its platforms, and Google for prioritizing the groups' resource pages on search."America will be greater when these hate factories are discredited and disbanded," Posobiec said.Axios' Russell Contreras contributed to this article.

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