MSNBC Roasted for Article About the ‘Far Right’s Obsession With Fitness’

MSNBC is facing mockery after publishing an article focusing on fitness and the “far right.”

The outlet published a column by Cynthia Miller-Idriss on Monday titled, “Pandemic fitness trends have gone extreme — literally.”

“It appears the far right has taken advantage of pandemic at-home fitness trends to expand its decade-plus radicalization of physical mixed martial arts (MMA) and combat sports spaces,” Miller-Idriss wrote.

She continued, “Physical fitness has always been central to the far right. In ‘Mein Kampf,’ Hitler fixated on boxing and jujitsu, believing they could help him create an army of millions whose aggressive spirit and impeccably trained bodies, combined with ‘fanatical love of the fatherland,’ would do more for the German nation than any ‘mediocre’ tactical weapons training.”

The article also stated, “Far-right groups have launched mixed martial arts and boxing gyms in Ukraine, Canada and France, among other places, focused on training far-right nationalists in violent hand-to-hand combat and street-fighting techniques.”

Miller-Idriss then pointed to examples in the U.S. of white supremacists seeking to recruit others through gyms.

“The intersection of extremism and fitness leans into a shared obsession with the male body, training, masculinity, testosterone, strength and competition. Physical fitness training, especially in combat sports, appeals to the far right for many reasons: fighters are trained to accept significant physical pain, to be ‘warriors,’ and to embrace messaging around solidarity, heroism, and brotherhood,” she wrote.

Miller-Idriss notes fitness “of course is a staple and a hobby for many people, for whom it is enjoyable and rewarding for brain health and overall well-being. Physical fitness channels dopamine, adrenalin and serotonin in ways that literally feel good.”