A Republican lawmaker aligned with the MAGA movement received widespread backlash on Sunday after she made controversial remarks about Donald Trump and a prominent civil rights organization, which played an essential role in exposing the violent group Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
During a recent podcast interview, Harriet Hageman, a Republican representative from Wyoming, made a series of comments claiming that SPLC had “funded and organized” the Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia. According to reports, organizers of the Unite the Right rally after Charlottesville urged the removal of the Lee statue to address the town’s tragic racial history. On August 11, 2017, Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klansman stormed the University of Virginia grounds with torches and placards bearing slogans.
The SPLC created the problem, funded the hate, and then asked you for money to fight it. That is not activism, it’s fraud. pic.twitter.com/adPdqHQwCL
— Rep. Harriet Hageman (@RepHageman) May 2, 2026
The violence resulted in the death of counter-protester 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed when Neo-Nazi James Fields drove a car into a crowd. Two police officers trying to control the raging crowd also died in a helicopter crash.
Harriet Hageman further claimed the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) paid the person behind the attack $270,000. She later criticized Donald Trump for his neutral remarks on the Charlottesville rally. The 79-year-old was accused of suggesting there were “good people on both sides” of the protests.
Her comments were met with immediate backlash from political analysts, commentators, and public figures, many of whom accused her of spreading misinformation.”Just disgusting lies,” Fred Wellman, a Democratic candidate from Missouri, wrote on X.
“That Wyoming picked this lunatic Cultist instead of Liz Cheney is an embarrassment to decency,” Norman Ornstein, a political scientist, added.
According to The Raw Story, Hageman’s comments came after the Trump-led Department of Justice secured an indictment against the group founded in 1971. The charges include 11 counts of wire and bank fraud, alleging the organization misrepresented to donors how their funds were used, especially regarding infiltrating and disrupting right-wing extremist groups.
The organization has rejected all accusations, claiming its activities have been lawful, transparent, and timely. The Alabama-based nonprofit, known for cases against white supremacists and classifying hate groups, has been accused of fraud by key Department of Justice members.
According to the BBC, at a news conference last Tuesday, Trump’s appointee Attorney General Todd Blanche accused SPLC of secretly funding the groups they claim to oppose, including the supremacist terror group KKK. “The SPLC is a non-profit entity that fights white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement to dismantle these groups,” Blanche said at the conference.
SPLC interim leader Bryan Fair reiterating their stance of innocence via video conference before the details of the case were revealed. He claimed that the organization had dedicated its last 55 years to “fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice.”
Fair said members were not “surprised” by the accusations from the Trump administration. He claimed the prosecutors were weaponizing the justice system. The Southern Poverty Law Center already had a strained The Southern Poverty Law Center already had a strained relationship with the Trump administration after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) cut ties in October, accusing it of being a “partisan smear machine.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine. Their so-called “hate map” has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence. That disgraceful record makes them unfit for any FBI partnership.
In… pic.twitter.com/ZZ9yIkmzWj
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) October 3, 2025
Some other lawmakers also claimed SPLC deliberately targeted well-known Trump-aligned organizations like Turning Point USA amid their long-standing legal problems. FBI director Kash Patel took to X and wrote, “The Southern Poverty Law Center long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine.” He claimed that the group allegedly inspired violence and therefore they remain “unfit” to be associated with the department.
“Under this FBI, all ties with the SPLC have officially been terminated,” Patel announced.
