alt headline: Rwing Stink Tank Apologetics for Trump and Musk

"Claremont Institute

The Claremont Institute is an American conservative think tank based in Upland, California. It was founded in 1979 by four students of the Straussian political theorist Harry V. Jaffa."

"Following the 2020 presidential election, senior fellow John Eastman assisted Trump in trying to overturn the election results, including attempts to persuade Vice President Mike Pence to reject the electoral count, and spoke at the January 6, 2021 rally preceding the Capitol attack."

''

"The institute has attracted substantial criticism. Commentators have cited its fellowship grants to figures associated with conspiracy theories, essays questioning the citizenship eligibility of political figures, and publications by authors affiliated with far-right networks as evidence of its drift toward the political fringe."

"The institute granted a fellowship in 2019 to the Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec.[15][16][17] National Review columnist Mona Charen wrote that "Claremont stands out for beclowning itself with this embrace of the smarmy underside of American politics."[15]

In 2020, Mark Joseph Stern of Slate magazine called the institute "a racist fever swamp with deep connections to the conspiratorial alt-right", citing Posobiec's fellowship and the publication of a 2020 essay by senior fellow John Eastman that questioned Kamala Harris's eligibility for the vice presidency.[18"

"According to a November 2021 Vice article,[32] the actions of pro-Trump Claremont Institute leaders"senior fellows John Eastman, Brian Kennedy, Angelo Codevilla, and Michael Anton, as well as Ryan P. Williams (the institute's president), and Thomas D. Klingenstein[33][34] (chairman of the board)"culminated in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Williams has stated that the institute's mission "is to save western civilization". "

much more at the link