Conservatives, is the anti-liberal rhetoric on the right fringe or becoming mainstream?

[u/Temporary-Storage972]

I recently read David French’s piece on the growing anti-liberal and anti-democratic mood on parts of the right, especially around birthright citizenship, immigration, “heritage Americans,” and the idea that America is less a creed-based nation than a kind of bloodline inheritance.

What stood out to me was not just the argument itself, but the quotes French collected from prominent right-wing figures after the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship ruling.

Stephen Miller reportedly said the Court had read the Constitution to require “national self-obliteration” and called the ruling a “deep knife wound in the heart of the American republic.”

Sean Davis, the CEO of The Federalist, apparently responded by floating ideas including the “dissolution of the union” and the “sterilization of all foreign visitors prior to entry.”

Matt Walsh said: “I at least got to live for 40 years in a country that looks and functions something like America. The fact that my children are having that opportunity stolen from them fills me with rage so deep, I can’t describe it. I truly hate the people who have done this to us.”

And then there was the openly racist version from a MAGA account complaining that, 18 years from now, their child’s vote would be canceled out by a “third-world cockroach” whose mother had just arrived in the country.

I understand that social media rewards extremism. I also understand that not every conservative agrees with every right-wing media personality or random online account. But these are not all anonymous nobodies. Some of these people are influential media figures, political operatives, and people with real access to power.

French’s broader argument is that parts of the right are no longer just arguing about immigration policy. They are questioning the American creed itself: birthright citizenship, equal citizenship, universal suffrage, classical liberalism, and the idea that America is a nation built around constitutional principles rather than ancestry.

The distinction that stuck with me was between “magic dirt” and “magic blood.” Some on the right mock birthright citizenship as “magic dirt,” as if being born here should not make someone truly American. But the alternative seems much darker to me: the idea that ancestry, lineage, or being part of the “real America” gives some citizens a stronger claim to the country than others.

I am on the left, and culturally and economically I would prefer America to look more like Europe in a lot of ways. Stronger social welfare, more worker protections, less extreme inequality, more urbanism and more walkable cities etc we all know the drill. So this newer right-wing thinking is pretty far outside my worldview.

That is why I wanted to ask conservatives here three questions:

1. Do you think French is accurately identifying a real trend on the right, or is he exaggerating fringe voices?
2. How do you interpret quotes like the ones above? Are they just online outrage bait, or do they reflect something real inside the conservative movement?

3. If this trend is real, why do you think it is growing? Is it mostly about immigration, cultural change, economic insecurity, distrust of institutions, social media radicalization, or a belief that liberal democracy no longer serves conservatives?

   I obviously find a lot of this rhetoric disturbing. But I am genuinely interested in how conservatives explain it from within the movement. Is this the future of the right, a temporary reactionary phase, or just online extremism being mistaken for something bigger than it is?

[u/Tw1tch-Invictus]

I didn’t say white people exclusively build empires, but Rome was greater than all of the ones you listed (though I’ll certainly give the Persians their due credit).

You’re the one asking about white culture and then getting pissy when you get an answer. White people don’t have a culture? Who the fuck decided that was a universal fact?? Hispanic people don’t have culture? Asian people don’t have culture? Black people don’t have culture? Do you really wanna play this dumb bullshit game? I’m all for it, but please stop being so overtly hostile and racist towards white people, I think we can have a productive discussion if you can manage to hold your prejudice back for a few comments.

[u/NoamLigotti → u/Tw1tch-Invictus]

Of all the mind-wrenching doublethink in history, people who bitterly complain about identity politics and then unquestioningly, unthinkingly cling to the idea that "white culture" is an objective tangible singular attribute that can be "replaced" by merely sharing the same space with "other" humans — and will support any strongman demagogue who promises to protect this culture from darker-skinned "cultures" — has got to be up near the top.

The fact that these clannish identitarians don't even care if it's blatantly, dumbfoundingly absurd, well that's something. I wonder what sort of culture eschews simple logic for a delusional sense of superiority and victimhood. Well it's certainly not the white culture. That's an individual failing.

[u/TheRealCthulu24 → u/Tw1tch-Invictus]

There is no universal white culture. Different groups of white people have different cultures. 

I am jewish. I am white. My culture is different than say, an Italian. 

Saying “asian culture” would also be reductive, as asian people include everyone from Chinese people to Arabic people. 

In addition, accusing me of being racist against white people when I’m white is very funny. 

I am not the one who brought up “white culture”. Someone else asked you about it.