Day of Reckoning: How the Far Right Declared War on Democracy

by Mike Wendling

The United States has become an almost unrecognizable country – with millions in thrall to conspiracy theories, toxic populism, and the far right edging closer to total power – a dire threat to civil society and democratic institutions. While the MAGA movement was in remission due to Donald Trump's defeat in 2020, the fascist fringes have not just survived but have continued to thrive and burrow into the mainstream. The January 6th Capitol Riot prosecutions have done little to curb their enthusiasm for mayhem. Trump's base in the Republican Party is committed to their candidate like never before. The institutionalization of racist voting suppression and the outdated logic behind the Electoral College means he could take back the White House. Apocalyptic messaging ensures the alt-right, anti-government, anti-LGBT, and white nationalist groups see the next election as a life or death struggle and are uniting to back the one person they can all agree on – guaranteeing another chaotic election. In this chilling exposé, Wendling encounters Capital rioters, Covid deniers, QAnon supporters, and Proud Boys and uncovers the roots of a movement that threatens to shatter the foundations of democracy.

Genres: Audiobook, Nonfiction, Politics

200 pages, Paperback

Published May 20, 2024

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Day of Reckoning is a fantastic introduction book for anyone looking for information about the far right and their tactics. My one issue with stuff like this is how they interview Alex Jones' ex wife (Kelly Jones). She tends to downplay her past involvement within Info Wars.

[Nicole Miles]

I read this because someone vehemently argued to me that it was important to understand “the other side” and, while this was interesting, I’m not sure I gained much overall and that is exactly what I expected. This just isn’t my approach or focus for social and political learning and activism so…I don’t know. If you’re fascinated and confused by the right, maybe read it. But it is worth noting that this was published before recent events changed the US presidential race so the last chapter is a little off here and there but the overall message remains the same and it gives insights into the right. It also has no information on how to combat the right’s conspiracy theory thinking, lies and other nefarious tactics, or about how the left should mobilise in a way that can support people in general or bring more folx from the right on board, and that part is what I tend to want when I read political writing.

[Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Day of Reckoning is a quick and well-paced read that examines the far right without descending into preachiness or hysterics. However, the brevity cuts both ways.

We've seen several good books and a lot of great reporting about the far right in recent years, and I'm not sure Day of Reckoning feels like it has a strong raison d'être or distinguishes itself. It reads as if it would be an excellent television documentary or several very good longform magazine pieces, but I'm not sure I see a strong statement in it as a book, or a reason I'd recommend it over other works. I don't want to take away from Wendling at all, because the book is well done and I've enjoyed interviews with him, but there's a lot of competition in this space.

[Benjamin Solidarity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfectly fine and quick read. Does a good job of describing the evolution of the fascist far right since 2020. But it lacked any deeper analysis of the current far right and how to defeat them. Mostly a journalistic overview of developments in the last 4 years. Still worth the read

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: The United States has become an almost unrecognizable country—with millions in thrall to conspiracy theories, toxic populism, and the far right edging closer to total power—a dire threat to civil society and democratic institutions.

While the MAGA movement was in remission due to Donald Trump's defeat in 2020, the fascist fringes have not just survived but have continued to thrive and burrow into the mainstream. The January 6th Capitol Riot prosecutions have done little to curb their enthusiasm for mayhem. Trump's base in the Republican Party is committed to their candidate like never before. The institutionalization of racist voting suppression and the outdated logic behind the Electoral College means he could take back the White House. Apocalyptic messaging ensures the alt-right, anti-government, anti-LGBT, and white nationalist groups see the next election as a life or death struggle and are uniting to back the one person they can all agree on—guaranteeing another chaotic election.

In this chilling exposé, Wendling encounters Capital rioters, Covid deniers, QAnon supporters, and Proud Boys and uncovers the roots of a movement that threatens to shatter the foundations of democracy.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Told in tendentious, apocalyptic tones, this aptly labeled exposé of the late-stage progress of the fascist-billionaire/Nerd Reich's long-running, carefully coordinated reversion of the US to conditions prevailing a century-plus ago presents a very persuasive case...if you're not looking for academic rigor. That is not the remit of this book.

What you'll get here is primary sources telling their stories of regretted participation (Mrs. Alex Jones), and stories with legs about the perpetrators of the media rejiggering of our cultural norms...stuff that makes a positive difference to know, and to see synthesized in one place, but that is meant to inform you and awake you from denial. If you want a dissertation-level, fact-checked, peer-reviewed tome, seek elsewhere.

Well aimed at a suddenly jolted aware, smart layperson, this is a short and easy read. Not many words will send one to the dictionary. Few ideas here are going to be hard to grasp, and the few you'll run into that aren't generally already familiar are researchable on Wikipedia with solidly reliable results. (Yes, I did it myself to be certain.)

Is your second cousin showing signs of coming out from the anesthesia of outrage dripped into them by red-meat right outlets? Here's a very good source of opening of the eyes. I can but hope that I know enough people with a spare twenty and some needy recipients in their orbit to get this to some young men the scum are targeting, in order to arrest his slide into fascism.

Before the election is better, but any time is good.

[Kevin Luyt · Rating 2 out of 5]

A really tendentious book, poorly written and poorly researched, and above all, laden with Trump derangement syndrome. This author should look in the mirror to understand his own angry denialism, which leads hi. into undergraduate thinking mode. Above all, he needs to read less of the alt-left media where he gets his opinions.

[Kerry Pickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a chronological of the events leading up to the current election which have taken place in the far right contingency. I have had some personal experience with the alt right speakers on a college campus, but when you look at the arc of these events it’s pretty disturbing.