Beto O’Rourke revealed his plan to combat white nationalism, an emerging threat he blames at least partially on Donald Trump, Yahoo News reports. He’s the second Democrat this week to address white nationalism after Kamala Harris introduced a plan dealing with the same issue earlier this week.
In a statement, the El Paso businessman wasted no words when pinning some blame on Trump for the rise in white nationalist violence.
“The terrorist attack on El Paso, fueled by the racist rhetoric of Donald Trump, was not only an attack on America, but an attack on the aspirational ideals of this nation,” he said.
Similarly, on his website, under the heading “ Combating Hate and Violence in America ,” O’Rourke mentioned Trump by name.
“Donald Trump and right-wing authoritarians around the world are using racism to divide people across the globe.”.
One aspect of O’Rourke’s plan calls for empowering the Department of Justice and the FBI to focus more than ever on domestic terrorism and white supremacy, specifically by treating white supremacy as “an organized crime problem.”
In addition, he wants white nationalism to be a part of the Executive Branch’s counterterrorism strategy.
“Beto will create an interagency task force to combat white supremacy and Neo-Nazism and restore the funding within DHS to target violence and terrorism prevention,” he says.
WATCH LIVE: Beto O’Rourke expected to announce relaunch of his presidential campaign in El Paso https://t.co/PX1dpGMkw4 pic.twitter.com/SxOAuiHBrI
— The Hill (@thehill) August 15, 2019
Secondly, the El Paso businessman wants social media platforms to be held accountable for their role in propagating hate speech and violent rhetoric. He calls on platforms like Facebook and Twitter to block hate speech like Cloudflare did in removing 8chan, the website on which the alleged El Paso shooter reportedly published a racist manifesto.
He also wants to amend part of the Communications Decency Act so as to allow social media platforms to be sued if they knowingly “promote content that incites violence.”
O’Rourke is the second 2020 Democratic presidential contender to reveal a comprehensive plan to combat white nationalism this week. As previously reported by The Inqusitir , earlier this week Kamala Harris revealed her concept for cracking down on white nationalism and domestic terrorism.
Like O’Rourke’s plan, Harris’s also includes provisions that would treat white nationalism as domestic terrorism, giving federal law enforcement agencies the power to conduct surveillance on suspected white supremacists.
Harris’ plan goes a step further, however. Her concept also proposes allowing courts to temporarily seize the weapons of suspected white nationalists who appear to be planning an attack.