--- title: White Nationalists Empowered by Donald Trump, Panelist Says description: White nationalists have been empowered not only by Trump but also by the rise of the "digital communications revolution." canonical: https://time.com/4904940/donald-trump-white-nationalists-gibbs-von-drehle/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-17T20:40:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:02:51.047Z article:section: Press Room og:title: White Nationalists Empowered by Donald Trump, Panelist Says og:description: Von Drehle was interviewed by Gibbs at a live streamed event at the Chautauqua Institution og:url: https://time.com/4904940/donald-trump-white-nationalists-gibbs-von-drehle/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75314428504713d8/6988da32096a9418a869f318/20170817_ls_00009.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: 20170817_ls_00009 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White Nationalists Empowered by Donald Trump, Panelist Says twitter:description: Von Drehle was interviewed by Gibbs at a live streamed event at the Chautauqua Institution twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75314428504713d8/6988da32096a9418a869f318/20170817_ls_00009.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Author David Von Drehle to TIME's Nancy Gibbs: White Nationalists Empowered by Trump — and Social Media > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Aug 17, 2017 8:40 PM UTC  TIME editor Nancy Gibbs with former TIME editor-at-large David Von Drehle at the Chautauqua Institution on Aug. 17. TIME editor Nancy Gibbs with former TIME editor-at-large David Von Drehle at the Chautauqua Institution on Aug. 17. Lee Stein/Chautauqua Institution. by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Aug 17, 2017 8:40 PM UTC White nationalists have been empowered not only by the presidency of [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4904270/will-nation-succeed-after-charlottesville/) but also by the rise of the “digital communications revolution,” Washington _Post_ columnist and former TIME editor-at-large David Von Drehle told TIME editor Nancy Gibbs at an event Thursday. Von Drehle, who was interviewed by Gibbs at the [Chautauqua Institution](http://chq.org/) in southwest New York state, said that today’s generation is living in “world historical times” that served as the backdrop for [last weekend’s violent clashes](http://time.com/after-charlottesville-ruddy-roye/) between white nationalists and counter-protestors in Charlottesville, Va. “The United States is a wonderful, open, loving country, but we’ve always had people who live in the United States who don’t fit that description,” Von Drehle said when asked by Gibbs how he approached writing about Saturday’s violence, which left one dead and more than a dozen others injured. “It’s been difficult for those folks to find each other and organize. “\[But\] today, those same folks can communicate instantly and all day long,” Von Drehle added. “They can amplify each others prejudices and notions and they can easily organize each other’s events.” Throughout the hour-long conversation, Von Drehle and Gibbs touched upon the power of the Internet and its role and impact on contemporary journalism — particularly in the age of President Trump. Gibbs pointed out that there has been a “journalistic challenge over the past five days” because “the President has doubled-down on many of the things that he has been criticized for.” “What we hope for in a time like this is national leadership — especially the President of the United States — that can frame \[Charlottesville\] in a way that’s less terrifying, less divisive, and reaffirm the core principles of the United States,” Von Drehle said. “What I missed last week was that.” Gibbs said there was an “extraordinary disconnect” because despite the turbulence of Trump’s presidency and a national spike in “diseases of despair” such as alcoholism and [opioid addiction](http://time.com/4896141/president-trump-opioid-national-emergency/), “we’re living in a period of extraordinary technological innovation and the longest uninterrupted period of peace since the Roman empire. “A generation of optimists say that we are living in the greatest period to be alive ever in human history,” Gibbs added. “Nancy’s always been the most optimistic person I know,” Von Drehle said to laughter in the audience. “I think there’s a real hunger for that — there’s always a hunger for tomorrow and what the next challenge is.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4904940/donald-trump-white-nationalists-gibbs-von-drehle/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4904940/donald-trump-white-nationalists-gibbs-von-drehle/"},"headline":"Author David Von Drehle to TIME's Nancy Gibbs: White Nationalists Empowered by Trump — and Social Media","datePublished":"2017-08-17T20:40:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:02:51.047Z","description":"Von Drehle was interviewed by Gibbs at a live streamed event at the Chautauqua Institution","url":"https://time.com/4904940/donald-trump-white-nationalists-gibbs-von-drehle/","keywords":["Media","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75314428504713d8/6988da32096a9418a869f318/20170817_ls_00009.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Press Room","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75314428504713d8/6988da32096a9418a869f318/20170817_ls_00009.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"20170817_ls_00009","caption":"TIME editor Nancy Gibbs with former TIME editor-at-large David Von Drehle at the Chautauqua Institution on Aug. 17.","creditText":"Lee Stein/Chautauqua Institution.","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/press-room/","name":"Press Room"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/media/","name":"Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4904940/donald-trump-white-nationalists-gibbs-von-drehle/","name":"Author David Von Drehle to TIME's Nancy Gibbs: White Nationalists Empowered by Trump — and Social Media"}}]}] ```