President
Donald Trump lent support to labeling Antifa a terrorist organization Saturday, calling the group a collection of “gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs.”“Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with
baseball bats, a major Organization of
Terror (along with MS-13 & others),” Trump wrote. “Would make it easier for
police to do their job!”It is unclear what prompted Trump’s remarks, but he appeared to refer to a resolution proposed earlier this month by
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy to label Antifa a terrorist group.“Antifa is a terrorist organization composed of hateful, intolerant radicals who pursue their extreme agenda through aggressive violence,” Cruz said when announcing the resolution July 19.Cruz and Cassidy were responding to the Antifa attack on journalist Andy Ngo at a protest in Portland June 29. Ngo, an editor for Quillette who has tracked the Antifa movement, had his camera equipment stolen and was bloodied and bruised in the attack, which was caught on film. Ngo also said he suffered a head injury.Cruz was assailed by members of the
Washington, D.C., chapter of Antifa at a restaurant last September. After chasing him and his wife out of the restaurant, the group’s
Twitter account sent the Republican a message warning that he was “not safe.”