While inspired by the 2017 DeploraBall, an unofficial inaugural party celebrating Trump’s first presidency that was organized by Cernovich, Posobiec, and others, Sunday’s party was nothing like the public spectacle of 2017, which was preceded by protests and plots against the event that resulted in three men being arrested. Cernovich tweeted on Monday that the “Passage Press ball was more refined and organized than our pathmaking Deploraball. Room is different. Younger. I was one of the oldest guys in the place! Real right wing. High energy and high IQ.” There were no apparent protests or plots before, during, or after the party, either—just as there appeared to be very few in DC on inauguration day—though I did hear that a few journalists either attempted to sneak in or were booted at the door.
If the hashtag-resistance now seems like a relic of an earlier time, it’s fair to also ask if the far-right is as fiery as it was in 2016. They are, at least, equally confident. Jonathan Keeperman, the founder of Passage Press, gave the evening’s first speech. A former University of California, Irvine professor, he launched Passage—which republishes out-of-print books by reactionary thinkers like German nationalist Ernst Jünger as well as new works by writers like Yarvin—anonymously under the name Lomez, before his role was revealed by The Guardian last spring. In his speech, he emphasized that Trump and his promises represent a “healthy and normal” inclination toward the future and an unwavering optimism in its fulfillment. “We are in the good timeline now,” he said.
