"Grassroot" Protests? Not So Much

Click here for an article in The Washington Post, by By Isaac Stanley-Becker and Tony Romm, entitled "The anti-quarantine protests seem spontaneous. But behind the scenes, a powerful network is helping."

Surprise, surprise. Behind these "spontaneous" demonstrations are a network of right-wing organizations undermining restrictions that medical experts say are necessary to contain the coronavirus, many headed by people who were prominent in the equally well-organized and well-funded Tea Party movement.

A network of right-leaning individuals and groups, aided by nimble online outfits, has helped incubate the fervor erupting in state capitals across the country. The activism is often organic and the frustration deeply felt, but it is also being amplified, and in some cases coordinated, by longtime conservative activists, whose robust operations were initially set up with help from Republican megadonors.

One such organization, "Convention of States," was "launched in 2015 with a high-dollar donation from the family foundation of Robert Mercer, a billionaire hedge fund manager and Republican patron. It boasts past support from two members of the Trump administration — Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Ben Carson, secretary of housing and urban development."

Brulle [a sociological researcher] said the blowback against the coronavirus precautions carries echoes of efforts to deny climate change, both of which rely on hostility toward government action.

“These are extreme right-wing efforts to delegitimize government,” he said. “It’s an anti-government crusade.”