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Like many moderate conservatives throughout the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, Id shrug off claims from the left of hate, racism, xenophobia, etc., that were supposedly being perpetrated by conservatives and the rising Trump campaign. Sure, I thought, media figures like Sean Hannity stirred the culturally sensitive melting pot of American culture with their provocative headlines, but they were just the classic incendiary talk show hosts who you see on both sides of the aisle.

While those claims were shrugged off by the GOP base as the usual political rhetoric, few noticed a shadowy group of far-right outsiders that were muddying the conservative waters by blurring establishment conservatism with their own radical views. And when the source of the hate became evident, conservatives and liberals alike scratched their heads in bewilderment as far-right nationalism surfaced from the depths of the internet.

For years, members of the alt-right were culminating into a coalition of radical far-right nationalists who were flirting with ideas of pro-white nationalism, anti-semitism and a general opposition to any form of political correctness. In 2016, these individuals broke out onto the main political scene. While their ability to hold the attention of major news sites may be dwindling if not gone, the alt-rights influence on mainstream conservatism is a subtle yet concerning one.

A lot of alt-right activity is internet-based, so it would be quite difficult to easily point out a member of the alt-right unless they were supporters of people like Richard Spencer: head of the National Policy Institute and the self-proclaimed leader of the alt-right. Participants of this movement populate internet forums such as 4chan and Reddit with messages that promote white nationalism, anti-semitism and basically anything anti-politically correct.

Members of the alt-right spend their time on these message boards reinforcing their white nationalist identity among themselves as a reaction to increasing multiculturalism in American society and fear of a white minority in the coming years. They are a wildly scattered group consisting of pro-Western nationalists, pro-white nationalists, neo-Nazis and many other far-right offshoots. They are united in their many controversial beliefs including racial superiority, misogyny, anti-semitism, anti-immigration and anti-multiculturalism.

Their activities have been gaining momentum since 2008, but recent populist uprisings across the globe including those at home have propelled the alt-right into the mainstream. They generated millions of memes that supported nationalist icons like Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen and most importantly, Donald Trump. The most notable was Pepe the Frog, a disheveled-looking frog who would often be displayed to resemble Trump. They referred to their efforts as meme magic, believing that plastering the frog anywhere possible would carry Trump and other nationalist leaders to victory.

When it started to spill into the social media feeds of everyday Americans, the media naturally condemned the alt-rights provocative online activity while simultaneously bringing attention to the groups endeavors: ultimately, and unknowingly, fulfilling the alt-rights initial goal of generating media interest. Their newfound infamy unfortunately started to blur the lines between conservatives and their far-right counterparts.

But when Trump won the election, the commotion died down and all of the political radicals, including the alt-right, were once again overshadowed by the usual Washington noise that comes with a new president. Yet circumstances were different for the alt-right. Similar to their unnoticed leap into mainstream conservatism, they quietly stuck around and continued to spread their influence online: this time on platforms that hosted thousands more viewers than the murkier internet forums of 4chan and Reddit.

Scrolling through my Instagram Explore page, months after the rise and fall of the alt-rights popularity, I noticed a few strange posts from different conservative accounts that generally posted jokes I thought of as sensible. One account had posted 80s retro aesthetic pictures containing phrases like not all men are equal, power and a generation of revenge, with pictures depicting the moon landing, a gladiator and a skeleton in Nazi fatigues, respectively. There was a final picture titled Right Wing Death Squad, a reference to death squads being a result of an increasingly leftist state, according to an alt-right 4chan forum. It turns out I was looking at posters promoting fashwave, a nostalgic form of dubstep in a retro style reminiscent of the neo-Nazi music wave of the 80s.

That same day I noticed the familiar account had posted questionable statistics listing the IQs of different races, claiming that certain negative personality traits of the listed racial groups stemmed from those numbers. Unsurprisingly, they were from the National Policy Institute, which is essentially the main think tank of the alt-right. To my confusion, I noticed similar comments on both posts congratulating the account for finally becoming red-pilled, which is alt-right slang for opening ones eyes to see their pro-white nationalist version of reality.

To see mainstream conservatives sharing pictures advocating neo-Nazism or white nationalism was quite unsettling; things were dramatically different from the times the alt-right were spreading a cartoon frog around the internet. Conservative hotspots that used to host topics like health care or tax policy were now debating news articles and related content that read: Illegal Aliens and Violent Crime: Some Amazing Facts, African Who Attacked Church Deported from Italy: Im a Muslim, Its My Duty to Destroy Christian Symbols and Hillary, Soros and the political genocide of Christianity.

Sources from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post and any media outlet with journalistic standards have been branded as fake news and replaced with sites like Breitbart and The Daily Stormer, who push these inflammatory headlines for the sake of angering and energizing their alt-right followers. It is clear that the alt-right hasnt left mainstream conservatism; they have used the conservative base to latch on like parasites benefitting from an audience of millions.

The continued online presence of the alt-right should alarm conservatives. This far-right fringe group is slowly influencing a generation of budding conservatives by introducing subtle humor that has the potential to turn them on to the idea of a pro-white nationalist America. If their influence continues to spread even further across the mainstream they will eventually replace known conservative principles like limited government and individual liberty with principles that promote white nationalism. Conservatives should make a preemptive effort to clearly separate themselves from the alt-right so they may never fully spread their radical views into the mainstream and promote a false image of modern conservatism.

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The alt-right parasite: How fringe groups latched on to mainstream ... - Virginia Tech Collegiate Times