Donald Trump and the rise of #AltRightPoetry

If it has often seemed to you that the Donald Trump phenomenon is less about ideology than some ineffable mix of betrayal, loss, fear, insecurity, and anger, you're not alone. It's hard getting a handle on a voter base whose platform rests on truths deeply felt rather than, say, baseline reality.

Which means, among other things, that the Trump candidacy—bizarrely outflanking so-called "cuckservatives" with xenophobic proclamations while remaining unapologetically liberal on issues like abortion—is perhaps best expressed in art, not stump speeches. Specifically: poetry.

This phenomenon kicked off in part because a Trump booster said that the #AltRight comprises a new, important generation of artists and thinkers.

Then, the inevitable.

What followed was a slew of the finest Twitter verse the Twitterverse has ever seen.

And yet, the school of #AltRightPoetry did not begin with @Popehat. "Right Wing Comedian" @ConComedy16 created the hashtag in April.

Only to later have it adopted by one of his many targets.

Now it's impossible to tell which #AltRightPoetry is satirical and which falls into the non-ironic camp. (Just kidding—the racist ones are earnest.)

But what medium is complete without its scholar?

Anyway, have fun imagining a post-apocalyptic future in which this is the only surviving literature. I know I am!