“Women for America First and Women for Trump are only two of the women led organizations that have been rallying support for Trump since 2016, which further fueled the rioters on January 6th." -- Judith Hernandez, 11th grade
On January 6th, White supremacists rioted on capitol hill after organizing and rallying that largely came from a group called “Women for America First”. This riot left five people dead, dozens injured, and damage to the capitol building.
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“Women for America First” is a non-profit 501(c)(4) group that organizes events, bus tours, and protests surrounding the election results and was founded in 2019. It is also known as a “dark money organization” because they do not publicly disclose who their donors are. It is chaired by Amy Kremer, a political figure who was associated with the conservative Tea Party Movement and is also the co-founder of “Women for Trump”.
Before the riot, “Women for America First” were using social media to call on supporters to join the “caravan” to Washington. In December 2020, Kylie Jane Kremer, daughter of Amy Kremer and executive director for “Women for America First” promoted the rally through a Twitter post that was retweeted over 16,000 times, partly due to President Trump sharing it with over 80 million followers on his own Twitter account.. The post included a photo of their large tour bus bearing their logo and a picture of Trump with the hashtags #MarchForTrump and #StopTheSteal.
“Stop The Steal” is originally a Facebook group that was created by Kylie Jane Kremer but got taken down in November of 2020. Even after the Facebook group got taken down, people still used the hashtag to further promote the riot and other protests for Trump. However, the Wall Street Journal explains that after the riot, Facebook decided to start removing all content that mentioned “Stop the Steal.” Additionally, “Twitter Inc. said it has removed more than 70,000 accounts since Friday that spread the QAnon conspiracy theory…” according to Wall Street but, as of today, Kremer’s Twitter account and Twitter posts still remain active.
“Women for America First” and “Women for Trump” are only two of the women led organizations that have been rallying support for Trump since 2016, which further fueled the rioters on January 6th. In “Pro-Trump Dark Money Groups Organized the Rally that Led to Deadly Capitol Hill Riot” an article published in CNBC, the author explains, “America First Policies, a pro-Trump policy advocacy dark money group, did disclose in 2019 that they contributed to Women for America First. America First’s 990 disclosure form from that year shows they contributed $25,000 to Women for America First.” Although they weren’t directly involved with the planning of the rally itself, they did put money and their support into the organization that did. “American First Policies” is chaired by Linda McMahon, a former Trump administration official.
“Women for America First” and “Women for Trump” are only two of the women led organizations that have been rallying support for Trump since 2016, which further fueled the rioters on January 6th. In “Pro-Trump Dark Money Groups Organized the Rally that Led to Deadly Capitol Hill Riot” an article published in CNBC, the author explains, “America First Policies, a pro-Trump policy advocacy dark money group, did disclose in 2019 that they contributed to Women for America First. America First’s 990 disclosure form from that year shows they contributed $25,000 to Women for America First.” Although they weren’t directly involved with the planning of the rally itself, they did put money and their support into the organization that did. “American First Policies” is chaired by Linda McMahon, a former Trump administration official.
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Organizations like “Women for Trump” call on women to rally behind Trump despite his obvious and constant misogyny. Jane Junn, a Professor of Political Science and Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Southern California explains in an interview with The Cut why so many white Women (53% in 2016 and 55% in 2020) have voted and rallied support for Trump. Junn explains, “The Republican Party is the party of keeping the white heteropatriarchy intact. And that’s appealing to many white women voters… But part of it is wanting to stay on top of the racial hierarchy. These women have agreed to accept second-class status with their gender, as long as the Republican Party puts them first with race and keeps them safe.”
Nathanial Schermerhorn, a dual doctoral candidate in psychology and women’s gender, and sexuality further explains that many women often vote for Trump because they uphold hegemonic masculinity, which, according to Penn State, is “...a culturally idealized form of masculinity that says men should be strong, tough, and dominant…”. In an article published on Penn State News titled,“Traditional Stereotypes about Msculinity May Melp Mxplain Mupport for Trump” Schermerhorn explains that “The pervasiveness of hegemonic masculinity exists because we do not always know that our attitudes and behaviors are contributing to it…The success of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign shows that even if we, as a society, have made progress in saying that discrimination and prejudice is undesirable, we have not, as a society, fully interrogated the systematic ways in which those prejudices are upheld.”
Although many women are standing with Trump despite the end of his presidency, it is also important to acknowledge those who aren’t and instead fighting for a different society, such as Stacy Abrams,a politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017.
Fairfight.com, an organization that Stacey Abrams created, describes some of Abram's accomplishments. The article states, “After witnessing the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election by the Secretary of State’s office, Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every American has a voice in our election system through programs such as Fair Fight 2020, an initiative to fund and train voter protection teams in 20 battleground states. Over the course of her career, Abrams has founded multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at both the state and national levels.”
Nathanial Schermerhorn, a dual doctoral candidate in psychology and women’s gender, and sexuality further explains that many women often vote for Trump because they uphold hegemonic masculinity, which, according to Penn State, is “...a culturally idealized form of masculinity that says men should be strong, tough, and dominant…”. In an article published on Penn State News titled,“Traditional Stereotypes about Msculinity May Melp Mxplain Mupport for Trump” Schermerhorn explains that “The pervasiveness of hegemonic masculinity exists because we do not always know that our attitudes and behaviors are contributing to it…The success of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign shows that even if we, as a society, have made progress in saying that discrimination and prejudice is undesirable, we have not, as a society, fully interrogated the systematic ways in which those prejudices are upheld.”
Although many women are standing with Trump despite the end of his presidency, it is also important to acknowledge those who aren’t and instead fighting for a different society, such as Stacy Abrams,a politician, lawyer, voting rights activist, and author who served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2017.
Fairfight.com, an organization that Stacey Abrams created, describes some of Abram's accomplishments. The article states, “After witnessing the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election by the Secretary of State’s office, Abrams launched Fair Fight to ensure every American has a voice in our election system through programs such as Fair Fight 2020, an initiative to fund and train voter protection teams in 20 battleground states. Over the course of her career, Abrams has founded multiple organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at both the state and national levels.”
Stacey Abrams and the activists that stand alongside her and the women behind “Women for America First” are fighting two very different battles. So, as we move forward and experience more societal changes, how will these movements impact the ones we create in the future?