Op-ed: Drummond, the Antifa Candidate

The Antifa Candidate

by James Silberman

Leftists cynically and dishonestly wielding the epithet “fascist” against Republicans has become a feature of modern American politics. Every Republican Presidential nominee since Gerald Ford has faced a version of this accusation. Kamala Harris repeatedly called President Trump a fascist during the 2024 election cycle.

But its use is not merely electoral. This particular slander serves another purpose crucial to the Left’s plan: justifying violence and legal persecution against conservatives. “Hey, Fascist! Catch!” was engraved on the bullet that took Charlie Kirk from this world. As was said by many following the Kirk assassination, "They don't kill us because they think we're fascists; they call us fascists so they can justify killing us." The 2023 indictments of President Trump and his staff were similarly justified by claiming the defendants deserved jail because of their “fascism.”

At a Tuesday forum, Oklahoma gubernatorial candidate Gentner Drummond proclaimed that political parties “want the most extreme candidate to be their banner-waver,” and that the “extreme” candidates favored by the GOP are “fascists.”

In the following words, I may seem indignant at Drummond’s use of the phrase. That is because I am indignant. You should be too. Drummond’s reckless accusation plays into a radical, far-left narrative about American conservatives that often puts us in physical danger. 

In 2020, leftists burned down entire city blocks across this country killing 25 people and causing more than $2 billion in property damage. Campus rioting has long been a feature of American life whenever a mainstream conservative like Ben Shapiro speaks at a major university. Our presidential nominee has survived numerous assassination attempts, one of which came within a half-inch of taking his life on live television. All of this is done in the name of opposing the Left’s imaginary specter of fascism.

This false narrative serves as the essential pretext for Antifa’s political violence and the Democrats’ weaponization of federal law enforcement. By portraying ordinary conservatives, such as Charlie Kirk or Moms for Liberty, as a fascist threat, Antifa (short for Anti-Fascist) activists and their Democrat allies can cast intimidation and violence as defensive acts rather than aggression. The supposed threat of fascism thus becomes a political blank check. Anything can be justified–arresting political opponents, sending people to jail for memes, and even shooting a father of two young children in the neck–so long as the target has first been branded a fascist.

Drummond and Antifa are lying. Their accusation is entirely contrived. There is no fascism on the American Right. Matt Walsh is not a fascist. Donald Trump is not a fascist. The Oklahoma GOP is not fascist. On the contrary, what Republicans suffer from is paralyzing moderation. Our entirely Republican-controlled federal government cannot even pass voter ID when 80% of Americans support it because of the countless Democrats who have infiltrated our party and gotten elected using special interest money to deceive voters. (Could you tell us anything about that, Gentner?)

Though they are the extreme ones (and getting more extreme with every DSA primary victory), the Left calls us “fascists” to justify killing our activists, jailing our party’s leaders, and demoralizing us through raw use of power. By parroting radical left-wing epithets about conservatives, Drummond is strengthening the narratives that Antifa, Biden, and the Left use to justify their persecution of us.

It would be a mistake to underestimate the stakes here. If a Democrat reclaims the White House in 2028 and weaponizes the Department of Justice again, Oklahomans cannot afford a governor who agrees with the Left’s assessment that conservatives are fascists. The last Democrat DOJ labeled concerned moms at school board meetings 'domestic terrorists', prosecuted conservatives over internet memes, and slapped peaceful pro-life activists with decade-long prison sentences. If he thinks we are fascists, there is no reason to believe Drummond wouldn’t throw conservative Oklahomans to the wolves if President Gavin Newsom (*shudder*) comes for us.

More than that, it confirms what informed Oklahomans already knew from Gentner Drummond’s long history of political actions and donations: he is a lifelong leftist running a campaign of voter deception. 

Gentner Drummond:

• Donated $1,000 to the Biden-Harris campaign before blaming it on his wife and rescinding it.
• Donated more than $10,000 to Democratic candidates for office since 2004.
• Mocked the work of immigration enforcement as racist.
• Endorsed amnesty for illegal aliens.
• Defended self-managed abortion.
• Fought alongside the militant atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation to oppose school choice and religious charter schools in Oklahoma.
• Does not have a problem with his wife donating to the radical, far-left Lincoln Project.
• Refused to take a position when asked about the impeachment of President Trump.
• Headlined a fundraiser hosted for him by Democrat booster and Hillary Clinton ally Sue Ann Arnall.
• Refused to join a group of Republican attorneys general who sought to prosecute Anthony Fauci and oppose Biden’s immigration plans.

The list goes on, and the audacity is staggering. 

Drummond expects us to ignore decades of Democrat political donations, left-wing positions, and now vicious public smears against conservatives just because he put an 'R' next to his name on a ballot. We do not owe our loyalty to politicians who hold us in contempt. Oklahoma conservatives are done voting for closeted liberals who spit in our faces and expect us to thank them for the rain. As conservative Congressman Josh Brecheen put it, “Disagreeing with true conservatives is one thing, but calling them ‘fascists’ and ‘extreme’ is entirely different. Gentner Drummond should stop treating true conservatives like the enemy.” 

Gentner Drummond is deceiving conservatives and insulting us to our face as he does it. He is doing everything he can to marginalize us and oppose our agenda. We should return the favor. In the words of Oklahoma Second Amendment Association President Don Spencer, Drummond calls conservatives “fascists,” but on August 25th, we can call him “loser” after we defeat him at the ballot box.

James Silberman is a conservative activist from Norman, OK.