Politics

Trump Supports Labeling Antifa A ‘Major Organization Of Terror’

Official portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead)

President Donald Trump lent support to labeling Antifa a terrorist organization Saturday, calling the group a collection of “gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs.”

“Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others),” Trump wrote. “Would make it easier for police to do their job!”

Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others). Would make it easier for police to do their job!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2019

It is unclear what prompted Trump’s remarks, but he appeared to refer to a resolution proposed earlier this month by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy to label Antifa a terrorist group.

“Antifa is a terrorist organization composed of hateful, intolerant radicals who pursue their extreme agenda through aggressive violence,” Cruz said when announcing the resolution July 19.

Cruz and Cassidy were responding to the Antifa attack on journalist Andy Ngo at a protest in Portland June 29. Ngo, an editor for Quillette who has tracked the Antifa movement, had his camera equipment stolen and was bloodied and bruised in the attack, which was caught on film. Ngo also said he suffered a head injury.

Cruz was assailed by members of the Washington, D.C., chapter of Antifa at a restaurant last September. After chasing him and his wife out of the restaurant, the group’s Twitter account sent the Republican a message warning that he was “not safe.”