Trump says he would ‘100%’ label Antifa a terrorist group

President Donald Trump told reporters Sept. 15 he would support designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist group when asked about rising political violence and the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk. 

“It’s something I would do if I had support from the people,” Trump said, responding to a reporter who asked if he had plans for the left-wing movement. “I would do that 100%.” 

“Antifa is terrible,” he said. “We have some pretty radical groups and they got away with murder,” later adding, “These aren’t protests. These are crimes, what they’re doing.” 

Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is a network of far-left groups that claim to fight fascism and racism but have been widely criticized for street violence and property destruction in recent years, Newsweek reported.

Trump’s remarks came shortly after he signed an order deploying the National Guard and federal law enforcement to Memphis, Tennessee, as part of a new federal task force aimed at combating crime in the city. He said the Memphis deployment will “restore public safety and get dangerous career criminals off our streets.”