The outcome of the United States election is still uncertain. By all accounts, polling numbers have been proven to be patently false, as what was expected to be a landslide teeters back and forth between Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.
Despite this, the Canadian far-right milieu is calling for one candidate to be named the victor - Trump.
By all accounts, the official results have not been finalized, but since that did not stop the sitting president from saying that he would be taking the outcome to court. With theories already abound of an unfair and rigged election to unseat Trump, his comments have remained on brand for his self-perceived role as an eternal underdog.
While much of the chatter we’re seeing coming from hate groups is similar, taking a walk through Canada’s extremist ecosystem presents the myriad ways that yesterday’s election is shaping the conspiracies of tomorrow.
Here is how Canada’s hate community is taking the election, so far:
The Skull Masks
Accelerationists maintain a special place in the hate ecosystem. As overt peddlers of not just racism, antisemitism, and misogyny, but an undisguised and unapologetic hatred of all societal order and structure other than their own, most groups in this space spent the lead up to the election saying how little they cared about either eventual outcome. Despite this, however, the election -- and their opinion that it has been co-opted by liberals, the elite, and Jews -- has been the issue du jour.
While one encrypted chat server claimed proudly that “accelerationists won the election,” Canada has quickly been pulled into the fray as multiple neo-Nazi channels are sharing a doctored screencapture of a Canadian Press story about Justin Trudeau vowing “military intervention if Trump Refuses to leave office.”
When contacted, the Canadian Press confirmed that it was fake to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network. Despite being obviously false, and users in these groups commenting that they are unable to find the story, it has persisted and trickled down from the most overt of violent corners of the internet into more mainstream groups.
A fake screenshot being shared across various extremist and mainstream platforms. Source: Telegram
Proud Boys & Proud Boys Canada First
Receiving a large amount of attention due to repeated clashes with counter protesters in American cities and Trump’s call to “stand down and stand by” during the first presidential debate, the Proud Boys drew headlines when it was reported that on the night of the election three members and Bevelyn Beatty had been stabbed in Washington, DC. Several media outlets reported that they were attacked by “BLM protestors,” however, Gavin McInnes made several posts to Parler, including one stating that they were “were not ‘Black Lives Matter members.’ They were street thugs who happened to be coming from Black Lives Matter Plaza.”
Source: Parler
Many PB chapters in Canada have remained quiet about the election, however, the page for the Manitoba version has begun re-sharing content asserting the election is being stolen by the Biden team.
The Ontario-based Proud Boys Canada First (PBCF) have also weighed in. A recent splinter from the larger Proud Boys organization, this chapter’s since deleted public channel once boasted that it was more fascist than the normal Proud Boys, which eventually led to a formal breaking away. PBCF continues to use much of the same images and messaging in its propaganda.
Besides also pushing the false Canadian Press headline on Wednesday morning with the caption “Trudeau will use all of his returning ISIS fighters to help him intervene,” on the day of the election, PBCF shared a post to its Telegram page pointing to a stabbing in Hamilton, with the caption “diversity is our strength.” The channel that the post came from included pro and neo-Nazi images and posts and accelerationism alongside headlines and videos that help push its narrative.
Canadian QAnon
No Trump controversy would be complete without the perspective of the new age religion that is quickly forming around him. Part conspiracy theory, part cult of personality, QAnon has increasingly become an issue for social media and law enforcement. While platforms are responding to years of criticism for spreading the blatantly false QAnon misinformation with recent crackdowns and bans, a leaked FBI memo first reported on by Yahoo News classified conspiracy theories as potential terror threats, and mentions QAnon by name.
Since election night, Canada’s Qers are weighing in on the results, including some of the most influential personalities in the space. Amazing Polly, aka Polly St George, an Ontario-based QAnon content creator and devoted supporter of Trump, was recently banned from YouTube and Paypal as part of the sweeps. Best known for her part in popularizing the Wayfair branch of Q theory, -- the idea that an expensive piece of online furniture would also include a child sex-slave with delivery -- St. George posted a video online saying she hoped Trump would win, but that his victory would create the “pretext for their riots.”
“It’s totalitarian. There won’t be an area of life which is untouched by the technocratic vision of our future,” she said, laying the blame for any coming unrest at the feet of the globalist “New World Order.”
Despite the inevitable plans for a takeover by “The Cabal,” it appears that at least four candidates that expressed support for QAnon or helped spread its theories have been elected in the USA so far, cementing the idea that the conspiracy theory is now in the mainstream.
Yellow Vests And The So-Called Patriots
Canada’s Yellow Vest and so-called patriot movement remains as incredulous as the others about the result of the election. While many say the fix has been in since the outset, several point to this all being part of an existing long term plan.
The largest official Yellow Vest Canada group was either removed by Facebook or taken down by admins during the summer, however, the most popular public YVC group, which currently sits around 2,000 members, already jumped onto the latest controversy -- that Trump voters were given Sharpie brand pens to spoil their ballots. Election officials told the media that using the marker would not spoil the ballots, though Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich posted a letter on Twitter saying he was looking into the matter after receiving “hundreds of complaints.”
Other posts from today are the more typical focus on a variety of types of actual and conspiratorial corruption, ranging from issues with lockdowns, Islam, and even “placed-Zionist traitors” found in Canada. Post-election coverage among YVC pages has been scant, though posts from election day also warn of a stolen election.
Win or lose, however, the idea that the election could be contested, or even stolen, comes from the candidates themselves. Trump, by all accounts, has once again defied American pollsters and turned a sizable gap between him and his opponent into a dead heat. However, the rhetoric from both sides leading into November all but guaranteed that anything other than a landslide for either candidate would lead to a contested election. Add to that Trump’s early declaration of victory and vows of court challenges -- the stage is set for an already divided country to split even deeper.
While Canada plays no direct part in the election, Trump’s politics and irreverence have become a flashpoint for populists and extremists alike. Whoever enters the oval office will have to contend with that legacy as we hold our breath for whatever raised stakes may come in four years.
