Hate Group Leader Says He’s Done with Politics and Binging ‘Handmaid’s Tale’
Over the last five years, Matthew Heimbach had the dubious distinction of being one of the most prominent leaders of the American white nationalist movement. He founded the racist Traditionalist Worker Party, was deemed the “the little Führer” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, and marched in Charlottesville. But it doesn’t look like Heimbach will be marching alongside tiki torches and polo shirts in DC on the anniversary of “Unite the Right” this year. In fact, he just told Talking Points Memo that he’s decided to quit politics entirely.
“I could not have possibly done a worse job with my original plan and I give up,” he told TPM, emphasizing that he was “done with politics forever.”
Things started to sour for Heimbach back in March when he got swept up in a trailer park brawl involving his co-leader and father-in-law, Matthew Parrott, as well as their two wives. This led to the collapse of the Traditionalist Workers Party, as well as Heimbach’s arrest. He was found in violation of the probation he was under for pushing a Black Lives Matter protestor at a Trump rally. Now, after spending 38 days in jail, he’s apparently decided to re-think his whole life.
“I decisively failed at my original mission which was to be a voice for working class white folks, and ended up in the middle of the most humiliating white trash spectacle of the year,” he stated.
So what’s a white nationalist to do when he loses his family and the animating force of his life practically all at once? According to what he told TPM, the little Führer’s routine involves a lot of TV. When the outlet called him, he said he was busy catching up on the second season of the Handmaid’s Tale. He might be trolling, but it at least mirrors what he told the SPLC earlier this week, sharing that he also heard “Orange Is the New Black is pretty good.”
“I’m just focusing on my responsibilities and duties,” Heimbach told TPM. “To my family—and God.”
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This article originally appeared on VICE US.