Extremist positions enter political mainstream; Calif. official in recall vote today says he barely recognizes his town

"Candidates for political office and sitting politicians across the country are increasingly embracing extremist talking points, endorsing hateful campaigns and promoting conspiracy theories, according to two recent studies and experts who research extremist movements," USA Today reports.

The first report, last week from the Anti-Defamation League, "showed that candidates for local, state and federal offices have parroted white-supremacist propaganda, expressed support for conspiracy theories including QAnon, and spread lies about election fraud," Will Carless reports. Another study from the voting rights advocacy organization Public Wise identified more than 220 officials or candidates who participated in or "directly supported: the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, "either by spreading disinformation about the election before the riot or by expressing support for the rioters." Some politicians take extremist viewpoints because they hope to attract supporters of former president Donald Trump, Oren Segal, vice-president of the ADL's Center on Extremism, told Carless.

Or, politicians may simply hope to appease such voters. A recall election in a rural California county shows how far to the right some conservatives have moved, and what can happen when politicians don't cater to extremist beliefs, Scott Shafer reports for KQED in Northern California.

Militia members, led by former Marine Carlos Zapata, have packed Shasta County supervisor meetings since 2020, warning supervisors not to enforce pandemic health rules. Recently, they collected enough signatures to force a recall election for Supervisor Leonard Moty today. Moty, a lifelong Republican and former police chief, told Shafer that he barely recognizes the town he's lived in his whole life: "It's very alarming and shocking to me. They try to shout you down and beat you up with their lies and information until subsequently you just give up."

Zapata said at a 2020 meeting that, though he wasn't threatening violence, Shasta County was "not going to be peaceful much longer . . . I'm not a criminal. I've never been a criminal. But I'm telling you that good citizens are going to turn into real concerned and revolutionary citizens real soon." It may not be empty words: A recent survey from The Covid States Project found that independent and Republican men were the most likely of any party or gender to say that violent protest against the government is justifiable right now.

GOP consultant Mike Madrid told Shafer the recall shows how extreme the Republican Party has become in the state: "We're witnessing really what is probably the first attempt in the nation for a militia-backed organization to unseat Trump-supporting Republicans simply because they're trying to make government work and government function." The militia has a podcast for like-minded listeners across the country, and says the recall is a blueprint for conservatives in other states, Shafer reports.