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Michael Anton is a radical Trump appointee who has voiced support for one-man rule and opposed basic principles of inclusion. Anton rose to prominence by comparing the 2016 election to 9/11 and Flight 93 and in recent years he has further progressed down the anti-democratic rabbit hole. In 2020, Anton praised a concept called “Caesarism,” which argues that one-man authoritarian rule can be an effective form of government in a time of crisis. Anton has also highlighted the UAE’s authoritarian system of government. Anton devoted significant time to attacking inclusion and diversity, claiming that diversity was “a source of weakness, tension, and disunion.” In contrast to America’s long history as a democratic melting pot, Anton argued that “democracy requires cohesion.” Anton has also attacked Islam as incompatible with America, opposed Muslim immigration, and even praised a WWII-era organization that promoted anti-Semitic beliefs. In 2020, Anton defended two members of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys who started a brawl in New York City. Anton falsely claimed that it was unclear who started the riot, despite surveillance video that showed the Proud Boys were the instigators. In addition to his personal failings, Michael Anton will promote a weak U.S. foreign policy in his role as Director of Policy Planning at the State Department. Anton wrote in 2021 that the U.S. had no reason to defend Taiwan in the face of a Chinese attack. |
2020: Michael Anton Discussed The Legitimacy Of Type Of One-Man Ruled Called “Caesarism.” According to The Guardian, "His and Yarvin’s conversation was ostensibly about his 2020 book, The Stakes. That book was controversial even on the right for its prolonged consideration of autocratic 'Caesarism' as a means of resolving American decadence. In the book, he defined Caesarism as a 'form of one-man rule: halfway … between monarchy and tyranny'. He adds, though, that 'Caesarism is not tyranny, which, strictly understood, is a regime that usurps a legitimate and functioning government', whereas Caesarism implements 'authoritarian one-man rule partially legitimized by necessity' – that is, 'the breakdown of republican, constitutional rule', adding that 'a nation no longer capable of ruling itself must yet be ruled'." [Guardian, 12/21/24]
2020: Michael Anton Praised Caesarism’s “Continuity And Stability.” According to The Guardian, "He writes that a 'Red Caesar' could be attractive to 'the reds' in the Republican coalition, who he says are 'under constant rhetorical, political, and, increasingly, physical attack, especially in blue states', making them 'more likely to turn to a Caesar'. Anton stops short of openly calling for authoritarian rule, but in general, he writes that the advantages of Caesarism include 'continuity and stability' and 'the prospect of avoiding conflict', and that it 'tends to engender calm'. " [Guardian, 12/21/24]
Michael Anton Praised The UAE’s Authoritarian System. According to an opinion by Michael Anton, "In the UAE one can at least go outside and be reasonably assured of the safety of one’s person and property—and, failing that, that any offender will face swift justice. In present-day Blue America, lunatics who lunge at (Republican) gubernatorial candidates with knives are released from custody the same day. A good Western liberal may recoil at anti-blasphemy laws, but—in an overwhelmingly and historically Muslim country—they make much more sense than the shifting demands of wokeness. The drivers of cancel culture lecturing the Emiratis about free speech is especially rich. Besides, it’s only good manners not to offend your hosts. The American ruling class is not, or at least is not supposed to be, our hosts. They are supposed to be our fellow citizens, to and around whom we are supposed to be able to say whatever we want." [Michael Anton - Claremont Review Of Books, 2022]
2016: Michael Anton Stated That “Islam And The Modern West Are Incompatible.” According to HuffPost, "Anton acknowledged in the March essay that Trump may have gone too far proposing a ban on all Muslims from entering the U.S. — surely business travelers from Dubai should be allowed in, he argued. But he praised Trump for his broader effort to limit the number of Muslims who are allowed to live in America. It is obvious, he wrote, that 'Islam and the modern West are incompatible…. Only an insane society, or one desperate to prove its fidelity to some chimerical ‘virtue,’ would have increased Muslim immigration after the September 11th attacks. Yet that is exactly what the United States did. Trump has, for the first time, finally forced the questions: Why? And can we stop now?'" [HuffPost, 2/8/17]
Michael Anton In 2016: “What Good Has Muslim Immigration Done For The United States.” According to HuffPost, "Anton wrote that he accepts that 'not all Muslims are terrorists, blah, blah, blah, etc.' But even so, he asked, 'what good has Muslim immigration done for the United States and the American people?'" [HuffPost, 2/8/17]
Michael Anton Claimed That Diversity Was “A Source Of Weakness, Tension, And Disunion.” According to The Atlantic, "Anton, before his unmasking, was identified by The New Yorker as one of the intellectual architects of Trumpism; The Huffington Post on Wednesday highlighted some of his more controversial writings, such as a defense of Charles Lindbergh’s America First Committee as 'unfairly maligned' and an assertion that 'Islam and the modern West are incompatible.' Anton has also argued that diversity is 'a source of weakness, tension and disunion.'" [Atlantic, 2/10/17]
2022: Michael Anton Stated “Democracy Requires Cohesion.” According to Michael Anton - Claremont Review Of Books, "The Emiratis—apart from the UAE simply being their country, which they have no wish to relinquish control of—seem to understand that there is no democratic way to rule a state in which your own people or ruling class is only a tenth of the population, with the other nine tenths polyglot foreigners. Democracy requires cohesion, which is a big reason why democracy works in 85% Hungarian Hungary." [Michael Anton - Claremont Review Of Books, 2022]
2016: Michael Anton Defended WWII-Era America First Committee Which Promoted Anti-Semitic Stereotypes. According to HuffPost, "Anton devoted 1,000 words of the March essay to defending Trump’s 'America first' slogan, which is eerily reminiscent of the America First Committee, a group that urged the U.S. to stay out of World War II, sometimes by invoking anti-Semitic stereotypes. When American Jews urged the U.S. to intervene on behalf of Jews facing genocide in Nazi Germany, AFC spokesman (and famed aviator) Charles Lindbergh accused them of 'agitating for war.' Jewish Americans’ 'great danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government,' Lindbergh said in 1941. Lindbergh’s comments were shocking, even at a time when outright anti-Semitism was more publicly acceptable. 'The voice is the voice of Lindbergh, but the words are the words of Hitler,' The San Francisco Chronicle wrote in an editorial. But the America First Committee, according to Anton, was 'unfairly maligned' and the whole episode represents only 'an alleged stain on America’s past.'" [HuffPost, 2/8/17]
2020: Michael Anton Defended New York City Proud Boys Convicted Of Brawl And Claimed “It’s Hard To Say Who Started It.” According to an opinion piece by Michael Anton, “I also remember, in pre-apocalypse New York City, Antifa goons getting into a fight—it’s hard to say who started it—with a group of men calling themselves the Proud Boys. Although no one was seriously injured, the NYPD expended significant time and resources tracking down the Proud Boys, but none whatsoever looking for any Antifa figures involved. Two Proud Boys were sentenced to four years in prison. No Antifa members were ever identified, much less charged with any crime, still much less tried or convicted. At most, the incident was a mutually idiotic brawl for which only one side was punished. The real distinction here is that the Proud Boys are regime dissidents while Antifa thugs are ruling-class shock troops.” [Michael Anton - The American Mind, 8/31/20]
2019: Two Proud Boy Members Were Convicted Of Attempted Assault And Rioting After Clash With Antifa In New York City. According to the New York Times, “Mr. Hare, 27, and Mr. Kinsman, 40, were among ten men who prosecutors said attacked four people protesting a speech at the Metropolitan Republican Club by the Proud Boys founder, Gavin McInnes. The masked protesters, who did not cooperate with the police, were believed to be self-described anti-fascists. Both defendants were convicted in August of attempted gang assault, attempted assault and riot. Seven others charged in the incident pleaded guilty. One defendant is awaiting trial.” [New York Times, 10/22/19]
Surveillance Video Showed Proud Boys Started New York City Fight With Antifa
Surveillance Video Showed Proud Boys Started New York City Fight With Antifa. According to the New York Times, “Mr. McInnes and defense lawyers said the protesters attacked the Proud Boys. But a surveillance video obtained by The New York Times contradicted those claims, showing that the protesters had halted 100 feet away from the Proud Boys on Park Avenue and that Mr. Hare had first walked and then run toward them. As Mr. Hare charged, one protester threw a plastic bottle that sailed past him, the video showed. Within moments, videos showed, a crowd of Proud Boys surrounded the protesters and began punching and kicking them.” [New York Times, 10/22/19]
Michael Anton In 2021: “There Is No Core American National Interest That Would Compel Us To Go To War Over Taiwan.” According to an opinion by Michael Anton, “America’s posture toward Taiwan is a Cold War relic. That’s not to say a Taiwan free of Chinese subjugation isn’t in America’s interest. It manifestly is. Nor is it to say that we shouldn’t care about Taiwanese democracy or liberty. We should, and I do. It is to say that we should be mindful of both our core national interests and capabilities and commit ourselves accordingly. The best thing for Taiwan and the United States is the preservation of the status quo for as long as possible. But there is no core American national interest that would compel us to go to war over Taiwan. Even if there were, there’s no guarantee we could win, or even hold our own.” [Michael Anton - Federalist, 12/20/21]
2016: Michael Anton Was Author Of Piece That Compared The 2016 Election To 9/11 And Flight 93.
According to The Atlantic, "The hiring of Michael Anton, a former George W. Bush speechwriter, to serve on the National Security Council staff is another indicator of this White House’s openness to decidedly non-traditional ideas on the right. Anton was recently revealed by The Weekly Standard as the writer behind Publius Decius Mus, the pseudonym Anton used for a widely circulated essay in September titled 'The Flight 93 Election.' In 'The Flight 93 Election,' Anton compared the American voter’s choice in November 2016 to that of the passengers on Flight 93 on September 11. '2016 is the Flight 93 election: charge the cockpit or you die,' Anton began. 'You may die anyway. You—or the leader of your party—may make it into the cockpit and not know how to fly or land the plane. There are no guarantees.'" [Atlantic,
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