We can now readily observe current communications tactics related to the Republican agenda in 2025. It’s important to look at these tactics objectively. The intent is to increase feelings of overwhelm and chaos and quash dissent. The communications objectives are a process, and therefore, ongoing. I understand this is a departure from my usual posts, but I think these observations are worthy of notice. Here are 10 things to observe about the way Republican communications are characterized in media today.

1. Appropriation of easy to repeat buzzwords and using them to identify groups of Others they can target as anti-Republican. These include terms like “woke” and “DEI.” 

2. Claims that their right wing, often religious, zealotry is “common sense.” We first saw this approach used by Phyllis Schafley in her opposition of the women’s movement in the 1970s and 1980s. Over the past four years, right wing women have co-opted the language of feminism. The word “feminist” in those circles may refer to a woman’s place in deference to her husband. These types of messages support second class citizen status for women.

3. Re-definition and adoption of commonly used terms to change their public meaning. For example, meritocracy.

4. Reframing of the Constitutional issues and abuses of power by the President as “administrative.” 

5. Targeting high profile, vulnerable populations to create focal points for outrage which function as distraction. This advancement of speech targeting persons of color, women, and those of varying cultural or gender identities. It serves to frighten non-white, non-male citizens and fragment attention. This climate makes it easier to create a “new normal” of compliance. Feelings of helplessness are needed to disenfranchise and control dissenting voices. 

6. Training loyalists to target the speech and profiles of those who publicly oppose Republican policies. This extends to the use of bots and trolls, targeting specific persons in an attempt to shut them down. 

7. Using AI to listen and to alter speech on social media. This assures that dissenting posts contain word and syntax errors.

8. Organization of private actions in right wing communications platforms. This occurred most significantly over the past 4 years. The decision to ban hate speech by the far right after the Jan. 6 militia occupation negatively affected revenues of Facebook and Twitter. Simultaneously, it allow the creation of radicalization pipelines through repetition and rhetoric. 

After the Jan. 6 insurrection, Facebook and Twitter face revenue losses due to defection to right wing platforms. These include Parler, Gab, Rumble, MeWe, Telegram and Signal. After the Jan. 6 insurrection, Facebook and Twitter banned right wing misinformation and disinformation campaigns. Therefore, we saw an upsurge in users moving to these platforms. This caused Twitter and Facebook to lose users: Gab competes with Twitter, Rumble with YouTube, MeWe with Facebook.

Movement to these platforms allows the creation of radicalization pipelines, where people become increasingly indoctrinated. The evolution of encrypted messaging apps, like Telegram and Signal, allow the far right to organize, plan and take action. In settings without oversight, there is little fear of being detected. The walkie talkie app, Zello, was used by the Jan. 6 militia group when it occupied the White House in an attempt to overthrow the national election. Those who didn’t participate were able to catch the action live in a play-by-play.

After loss of revenues, we see social owners broker deals. First, Facebook joins up with What’s App founder Brian Acton, who also owns Telegram. Then, the purchase of Twitter/X by Elon Musk, which now provides safe haven for right winters and QAnon conspirators. Speech that criticizes the right wing’s Project 2025 is no longer protected political speech. The platforms are known to advance right wing content to dissenting viewers. This use of repetition is intended to create a “new normal” that progressives are meant to accept as de facto. Facebook withdraws fact checking and replaces it with “user” discretion. That means others can target posts they don’t like whether they are factually correct or not. As of this writing, Facebook has begun to block likes and comments on posts that critique Trump’s America.

6. Partners who align with the same over-reaching objectives and parallel messaging goals. This pairing results in the marriage of the right wing, conservative “anti-Other” message with that of the Christian far-right. This stronghold on the Bible belt benefits from a lack of public education or a narrow Christian education. It espouses few rights for women, and the word of the patriarch to be taken as that of God. 

This allows the movement to exert “moral” controls at the family level, as well as on individual members of Congress. It fuses the McCarthy-era connection between a belief in God and the agenda of the government. In this case, the Christian right. Historically, this tactic was used successfully by the Catholic Church in Europe. One notable example lies in the creation of the Holy Roman Empire and Charlemagne’s rise to power as Emperor.

9. Cult-like markers in social communications characterize the messaging of the Republican party and the Trump administration to its followers. The FBI has used a cult detection questionnaire created in 1979 to signify cult status. Download a copy. The President replaced current FBI and others, trained to subvert fascism, with Trump loyalists. In this way, party leaders assure that they remove blocks to their rise to power.

This week, legislation to outlaw dissenting political speech has passed in at least one state. Federal legislation is being drafted to this same end. The government seeks forced compliance with its unconstitutional racist, misogynistic, inhumane, and genocidal messaging. The President seeks to be dictator and control the media and all speech. This is the status quo. America is on the brink of becoming Amerika.

10. Data mining operations are part of Project 2025. This includes the creation of huge data mining centers run and owned by Musk. With the President’s blessing, he has illegally ransacked a large number of federal agencies. Americans understand that he has stored that data on private servers. It’s reported widely that he has mined the agencies both for data and monetary resources. At the same time, he and his team have hijacked huge quantities of health and financial information on private, citizens. Earlier this week, Google signed a deal with the federal government. They will turn over all user data, everything from search and voice recordings to email. AI will be used to listen to citizens private conversations wherever they are through smart devices.

Of course, this is an incomplete, skeleton outline. There’s more to dig into, and some pieces of the picture are missing or fragmented. Nonetheless, I hope this list provides a little insight into the normative communications tactics of the Conservative right in America. There’s no doubt we find ourselves increasingly within the stranglehold of an emerging fascist state.