The story in the CBC podcast The Flamethrowers about right-wing extremism began with someone I had never heard of before and he was a Canadian. He was a Canadian priest Charles Coughlin — a populist crusader who wound up espousing conspiracy and hate 100 years before Rush Limbaugh got his medal of freedom from Donald Trump. What he did was crucial. He proved how potent radio could be.
This may sound crazy, but Right-wing radio flexed its muscle with a boycott of Polish Ham. Much later the Kennedy government in the US almost wiped right-wing talk radio off the map. Right-wing radio began with loud, brash, infuriating zealots. In fact such have always swum in its waters.
According to producer Justin Ling, these “broadcasters would fan the flames of a new populist ideology; they give a voice to a swath of Americans who felt like they never had one. They energize and then they radicalize the conservative movement.” That movement was home to ordinary conservatives and conspiracy peddlers and everything in between. Father Coughlin started off in Canada but graduated to Detroit. He was of the ‘go big or go home’ mindset. That influenced many that came after him. Father Coughlin set the mould for those that followed.
About a hundred years ago, in the 1920s, talk radio was launched from what now seems a very unlikely source a firebrand Catholic. He claimed he got a “welcome present from the Ku Klux Klan.” Although the Klan reserved its most venal vitriol for black Americans it had other groups in its sights. As Ling said, “they had more than enough hate in their hearts to attack immigrants, especially Catholics who were flocking to Detroit to work in the new auto plants.” When he arrived in Detroit he was greeted with a burning cross courtesy of the KKK. That did not scare him off. Coughlin made arrangement to deliver talks on the radio, a relatively new media at the time. He knew he needed to raise money for his church which had massive debt for its huge church and was not raising enough from donations to sustain it. The situation was dire and at the same time the local KKK group was uttering bellicose statements about the church. He had a deep rich voice with near musical cadence that was very powerful on the radio.
In 1929 America, like the rest of the world experienced a crash. The 1920s, called the Roaring Twenties, were when wealthy people leaped enthusiastically in to popular endeavors such as Speakeasys. In time this led the country into financial disaster and common people were desperately unhappy about it. Coughlin stepped out of fiery preacher role and became the “conduit for a real and very understandable anger.” He rode a populist wave of anger. He became the voice of outrage and had spectacular success on the perfect medium for anger—the radio.
In the language of today he was a populist—he was anti-communist but also anti-capitalist. He supported some unions, but not the more radical unions. He was not that far left. As Ling said, “Coughlin’s audience was estimated at 40 million listeners. At that time that was a third of America. Limbaugh at his height would have only about 1/20th of America.” Meanwhile money poured into the church and he arranged for it to build a huge iron cross, one the KKK could not burn.
Coughlin turned to a politician he could support. It was someone who distrusted the political class like he did. So, he turned instead to someone who distrusted the bankers and big business. This was a champion of everyman. This political leader was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the author of the new deal. Coughlin was clear, “It is either Roosevelt or ruin,” he said.
FDR was a shrewd politician and “he saw in the radio priest, a new way to meet the masses.” Coughlin saw in FDR a vehicle for his new social justice calling. Ling said, “As President, FDR recognized the visceral yet intimate power of radio. Through his fireside chats he entered into America’s living rooms as a trusted guest.” Coughlin inspired the President who followed suit. As Ling said, “Coughlin is no longer that small town Catholic fighting anti-Catholic bias.” Later Coughlin abandoned FDR when he started making deals with the bankers rather than throwing them out as he done earlier. Later, when FDR made a deal with Stalin (and Churchill) Coughlin was furious. “Coughlin was vehemently anti-Communist.” He changed his slogan to “Roosevelt and ruin.”
Coughlin started his own political party and then turned to the dark side. He blamed Jews for their own persecution. He also adopted various conspiracy theories such as the one that Jewish bankers were part of an international cabal. He also cited the conspiracy theory of the elders of Zion which claimed falsely that Jews were part of a international Jewish conspiracy to rule the world. He claimed that Jews and Communists together were determined to take over America. Coughlin gave up on left wing causes and turned instead to supporting Hitler and the Nazis. He came to be called “the father of Hate radio.” [Though some called Rush Limbaugh that]
Coughlin began to be abandoned by his erst while supporters. Many called out his mistaken litany of facts that were not facts at all. Federal regulators warned him that they would not allow the airwaves to be abused in that manner. As Ling said, “In today’s he was cancelled and de-platformed.” The radio star was done, but his influence lived on to be used by other pundits from other political persuasions. Especially, those on the political right.
As Ling said, “Coughlin was radio’s first real political celebrity. He weaponized bombast but met his listeners where they were at. He sat in their living rooms and echoed their concerns. He helped to propel presidents to power. He tried to have a say in running the country from behind a microphone.” Coughlin unleashed the power of hate. That was his crucial contribution. He was soon followed by many others. The genie of political radio was out of the bottle and would never get back in. as Ling said, “Coughlin fell into conspiracy theories and hate as a way to energize and galvanize his support, and he would not be the last.”
Once politicians, pundits, and frauds saw the power of hate, others followed as surely as night follows day. I was amazed to learn it was all started by a Canadian Catholic priest.