Chapter 11: Constructing the Fragmentation of the United States: A Discourse Analysis of a White Nationalist Strategy After the November 2020 Elections

The white nationalist project of establishing a racially homogeneous state out of the United States hinges on the pursuit of power through the fragmentation of national spaces along racial lines. In a shifting political context, prominent ideologue Jared Taylor perceives Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory as an opportunity to further engage his audience. This chapter offers a discourse analysis of seven audiovisual productions published by Taylor on the online magazine American Renaissance between the 3 November 2020 presidential election and the 6 January 2021 Capitol Hill riot. Through a multidisciplinary approach encompassing political science, race studies and information science, this case study illuminates how white nationalism uses fragmentation as both an objective and an argument. A fracture of the information contract seeks to define extremism as a bastion of objective truth, countering perceived mainstream media bias. The electoral dynamics subsequently serve as a vehicle for reshaping political dynamics and recasting partisan divisions as racial polarisation. Ultimately, this narrative arc steers towards a new strategic orientation, redefining the contours of territorial fragmentation and the white nationalist agenda itself.