Washington DC - MAGA politicians have been sharing mixed reactions after a white supremacist group held marches throughout the nation's capital during President Donald Trump's Independence Day celebrations.
According to The New York Times, a large group of several hundred masked men wearing the markings of Patriot Front – a well-known white nationalist group – marched with flags through neighborhoods around the US Capitol on Saturday while chanting "Reclaim America!"
Videos and images of the march have spread like wildfire across social media.
MAGA has appeared fractured on what narrative to push in its wake, though there appears to be a consistent message – deny, deny, deny.
For what's left of Trump's MAGA base of voters, many have dismissed the incident in several ways.
This has typically been done either by labeling Patriot Front as "fringe" and not associated with the larger MAGA movement or by arguing that their presence posed no issue by comparing it to violent acts committed by minorities and immigrants.
Some people – including Utah Senator Mike Lee – have posed the unfounded theory that the march was a "psyop" orchestrated by Democrats.
"Patriot Front: Brought to you by leftists who don't know that patriots don't wear masks," Lee shared in an X post, though it's worth noting that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents – who Trump regularly calls patriots – are regularly masked.
In subsequent posts, Lee said that Democrats should "stop reminding America of their racist history," and said left-leaning advocacy groups were behind the "fake white supremacists."
Fox News anchor Laura Ingram shared similar claims, calling the group "fake" and "Antifa in costume," though she didn't realize the video she shared was from a previous march that took place in January.
More politicians react to the viral Patriot Front incident
Though President Trump has not commented publicly on the march, his Interior Secretary Doug Burgum was pressed to condemn it during a recent interview. He refused to do so.
While he admitted Patriot Front stands for "nothing that I could possibly agree with," he argued that "one of the foundational principles of the United States, which makes democracy messy, is free speech."
He then went on to parrot Trump's claims that communist Democrats are taking over the country.
Burgum also refused to support making a recommendation to Trump to condemn the march because leftists are allowed to "say things that I think are [reprehensible]" about the president.
Florida Congresswoman and MAGA loyalist Ana Paulina Luna shared an X post on Monday pointing out that she found it "odd" that Patriot Front was never investigated by former President Joe Biden, and urged the House Oversight Committee to "do some digging."
There has been some condemnation from Republicans, including Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, who shared a viral photo of a Black woman alone on a train surrounded by Patriot Front members.
Bacon described the group as "a bunch of creeps." He has since called out users who have defended the march for appearing to support "bigotry."
In an interview with CNN, Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter argued that the march "does not represent the soul of America," as the country was built on the idea that "we are all created equally."