Violent misogyny is not just the mark of right-wing extremist groups — it’s gone mainstream. Members of a self-styled militia group out of Michigan were arrested and charged last week in a failed plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, hold her hostage, and storm the state capital. If that storyline isn’t horrific enough on its own, just look to the deeply sexist language the so-called Wolverine Watchmen used to describe Whitman, and you’ll see how much toxic masculinity goes hand-in-hand with the twisted logic of white supremacists.

But as Tim Libretti, PhD, notes, this violent misogyny reflects a broader belief system that mainstream Republicans have been slow to condemn — if at all. “The supposed extremism of right-wing militia movements shares quite a bit with mainstream Republican thought at work in the halls of Congress,” he writes.

The Plot to Kidnap Gretchen Whitmer Highlights Violent Sexism of White Supremacy