Republican Antiwokeness Risks Creating a 'Woke Right' Ahead of 2026 Midterms
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Republican Antiwokeness Risks Creating a 'Woke Right' Ahead of 2026 Midterms
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 14
Summary
The Republican Party’s antiwoke backlash is described as hardening into a self-defeating “woke right,” with fringe ideas on race, identity and history gaining more space inside the party.
That shift stems from the GOP’s reaction to the woke era: moving further right on race and gender, weakening its resistance to cranks and eroding taboos against open bigotry.
The political cost could hit in the 2026 midterms, the piece argues, as Republicans lose Latino support and struggle to present themselves as the moderate alternative even while some Democrats nominate defund-the-police candidates.
More broadly, the trend is widening the gap between the parties and leaving less room for any truce in the culture war.