# We Are All Domestic Terrorists "We Are All Domestic Terrorists" was a banner displayed on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, in August 2022. The slogan applied the same insult-reclamation mechanic as the [[Basket of Deplorables]] — seizing an opponent's accusation and wearing it as a badge — but escalated the stakes dramatically. Where "deplorable" was a moral judgment, "domestic terrorist" is a federal legal category carrying implications of surveillance, prosecution, and imprisonment. The banner's display at the most prominent annual gathering of mainstream conservative politics represents a significant data point in the [[Domestic Terrorism Framing]] debate and the broader normalization of political violence rhetoric on the American right. ## Context: The Domestic Terrorism Debate The banner emerged from a specific political context. In the aftermath of the [[January 6 Capitol Attack]], federal law enforcement — the [[FBI]] and the [[Department of Justice]] — prosecuted hundreds of participants and characterized the event in terms of domestic extremism. Congressional investigations, particularly the [[House January 6 Committee]], framed the attack as an organized insurrection. Simultaneously, a broader discourse developed around the characterization of certain conservative movements — parents protesting school board policies, opponents of COVID-19 mandates, election integrity activists — as potential domestic threats. A 2021 [[Department of Justice]] memo directing the [[FBI]] to address threats against school board members was seized upon by Republican politicians as evidence that the Biden administration was labeling ordinary conservatives as terrorists. The conservative counter-narrative crystallized around the claim that the federal government was "weaponizing" law enforcement against political opponents — a narrative formalized in the concept of [[Weaponization of Government]]. The House Judiciary Committee under [[Jim Jordan]] later established a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, institutionalizing this framing. The CPAC banner was the memetic expression of this narrative: if the government calls us terrorists, we'll adopt the label to expose the absurdity of the accusation. ## The Banner and Its Defense [[Matt Schlapp]], chairman of the American Conservative Union (which organizes CPAC), defended the banner as "obviously tongue-in-cheek" — an ironic protest against what he characterized as the left's demonization of conservative Americans. The defense rested on the premise that the label was so absurd when applied to mainstream conservatives that displaying it exposed the overreach of federal law enforcement and Democratic rhetoric. The "tongue-in-cheek" defense is analytically important because it reveals the double-layered sincerity that characterizes much of modern right-wing memetic communication. The banner is simultaneously ironic (we're obviously not terrorists) and sincere (we genuinely believe the government is persecuting us). This ironic-sincere duality — saying something outrageous, meaning it, and then retreating to "it's just a joke" when challenged — is the same discursive structure that operates in [[Shitposting]], in the [[Alt-Right]]'s use of [[Pepe the Frog]], and in the broader pattern of extremist rhetoric cloaked in humor. ## The Escalation from "Deplorable" The progression from [[Basket of Deplorables]] to "We Are All Domestic Terrorists" traces an escalation curve in reclamation politics. In 2016, Trump supporters reclaimed "deplorable" — a word that suggested moral failing but carried no legal weight. In 2022, the conservative movement reclaimed "domestic terrorist" — a designation that implies criminal violence against one's own country. The escalation matters because each iteration of the reclamation tactic normalizes a more extreme self-characterization, moving the [[Overton Window]] on what kinds of political self-identification are acceptable within mainstream conservatism. Critics noted the particular irony of displaying this banner while the January 6 investigations were still ongoing, with members of the [[Oath Keepers]] and [[Proud Boys]] facing seditious conspiracy charges — actual domestic terrorism prosecutions. The banner collapsed the distinction between conservatives who opposed Biden's policies through legitimate political channels and individuals who had committed violence at the Capitol. By declaring "we are ALL domestic terrorists," the slogan extended solidarity from the mainstream conservative movement to those facing federal prosecution, whether intentionally or not. ## Normalization and [[Stochastic Terrorism]] The banner functions as a data point in the study of how [[Stochastic Terrorism]] rhetoric becomes normalized. When a major political conference — attended by sitting members of Congress, presidential candidates, and mainstream media — displays a banner self-identifying its attendees as terrorists, even "ironically," it contributes to an environment where political violence terminology loses its shock value. The normalization pathway runs in both directions: it desensitizes conservatives to being called terrorists (reducing the social cost of association with actual political violence) and it desensitizes the broader public to the language of domestic terrorism in political contexts. The banner has been endlessly cited in subsequent political commentary — by progressive critics as evidence of the right's comfort with political violence framing, and by conservative commentators as evidence of persecution and resistance. Both readings serve the political purposes of their respective sides, which is precisely the kind of polarization engine that effective [[Meme Warfare]] produces. ## Connection to Broader Patterns The "We Are All Domestic Terrorists" banner connects to several dynamics documented elsewhere in this knowledge base. It reflects the [[Weaponization of Government]] narrative that became central to Republican messaging from 2021 onward. It employs the reclamation mechanic perfected in the [[Basket of Deplorables]] moment. It operates within the ironic-sincere register of [[Shitposting]] culture brought into institutional politics. And it contributes to the normalization gradient that runs from edgy online rhetoric through rally slogans to the formal statements of political organizations — the same pipeline documented in the [[Online Radicalization Pipeline]]. --- ## See Also - [[Meme Warfare]] - [[Basket of Deplorables]] - [[Domestic Terrorism Framing]] - [[Stochastic Terrorism]] - [[Weaponization of Government]] - [[January 6 Capitol Attack]] - [[Shitposting]] - [[Overton Window]] - [[Oath Keepers]] - [[Proud Boys]] - [[Online Radicalization Pipeline]] - [[Alt-Right]] - [[Jim Jordan]] - [[Memes Hub]]