BND - Gripped by extremism

🧩 BND Motif Index · M1389

Gripped by extremism

A party that was once mainstream is said to have been seized by its extremists over the years, until its old moderates no longer recognize it.

📜 Plots 🗂️ Party fractures

13claims filed under it
4left shows it came up on
3center shows it came up on
15right shows it came up on
1claim retold online

⚠️ A story people tell, not a claim that it's true.

A motif is the shape of a story as its tellers tell it, named the way a folklorist names a tale type, so the same story told about other people, by the other side or in another year lands in the same place. Some of the claims below are true, many are false. Arguing against a story is often a story of its own, its answer (Voter fraud is answered by Voter suppression, Lawfare by No one is above the law), and we file it there; where no answer has a motif yet, the arguments against a story sit with its tellings.

what it rests on, what rests on it, and the motifs that answer it

🔗 goes with: 🧩 Death spiral 🧩 Entryism 🧩 Institutions sell their soul 🧩 Nazis in the ranks 🧩 The party left me

the shows we follow where its claims came up (4 left-leaning, 3 center, 15 right-leaning so far), colored by the show's lean; the bar is how many of its claims each one heard

left-leaning
center
right-leaning

➕ 10 more shows

"Came up on" means one of its claims was heard on the show: told, reported or argued against. We don't yet mark which. Show leans are our own grouping of the shows we transcribe.

the words that carry it

💬 the tellers' own words: “a generation ago, you know, when I was working very actively inside the Democratic Party, this would have been an easy call for the leaders.” “And Democrats are starting to realize this ain't the party they signed up for.” “how far the Republican Party has fallen” “I think about 85 to 95 percent of the Republican Party has lost their mind.” “I think the party has shifted fundamentally. I think there's no more room for a classic liberal anymore.” “in my lifetime... we have really seen extremism grip the Republican Party in our state” “It is a cult that is much deeper than just Donald Trump.” “Karl Rove... is now saying that the party he helped build has been taken over by bigots, including some Nazis.” “my party's been taken over by a bunch of loudmouths who are uneducated and unable to process any information” “Part of the problem with the Democrat Party early on is they didn't take on their sick bastards the way I have taken these guys on” “The third way Democrats are extinct.” “They don't get the point that this is not a Democratic Party anymore. These are leftists.”

what's been told in this shape, in our words, by who told it: newest first in each; a claim's dots are the shows it came up on, in their lean's color (point at them for their names)

Told on the left 3

claims heard on left-leaning shows, and no right-leaning one

2026-11-11 “The Republican Party is shrinking and becoming more extreme as it does so.” 3
2026-11-07 “The Republican Party is being taken over by bigots and Nazis.” 2
2026-11-03 “Most of the Republican Party has lost its mind, taken over by uneducated loudmouths unable to process information beyond social media.” 1

Told on the right 9

claims heard on right-leaning shows, and no left-leaning one

2026-11-11 “Democrats are said to have failed early to take on their own sick extremists, and now those extremists are the party.” 1
2026-11-07 “The Democratic Party is being taken over by Marxists and socialists who want to destroy the United States.” 12
2026-11-04 “The Democratic Party is a radical party that hates America.” 4
2026-11-02 “The Democratic Party is becoming a radical socialist movement that will abandon its moderates, Jewish members like Shapiro and Ossoff among them.” 1
2026-11-01 “Extremism has gripped the Republican Party in Texas since the era of George W. Bush.” 2
2026-10-30 “The Democratic Party is veering further left rather than toward the center.” 3
2026-10-27 “The radical left has won Democratic primaries across the country.” 2
2026-10-22 “The Democratic Party is becoming more socialist and supports crazy policies.” 9
2026-10-21 “The Democratic Party is lurching to the left.” 7

Retold online 1

claims many people posted in their own words

2026-11-01 “The Republican Party has become a cult driven by a violent and unstable base.”

M1389 · first seen 2026-11-01 · last 2026-11-11 · what this is · how the index works

Gripped by extremism

🪜 Its family

🎙️ Who it came up with

🎙️ 10 more shows

🗣️ In so many words

🧶 Its claims

Told on the left 3

Told on the right 9

Retold online 1

🪜 Its family

🎙️ Who it came up with

🎙️ 10 more shows

🗣️ In so many words

🧶 Its claims

🫏 Told on the left 3

🐘 Told on the right 9

🧶 Retold online 1

Told on the left 3

Told on the right 9

Retold online 1