One thing I’m still trying to figure out about open, virulent white nationalists is why they so frequently back away from their beliefs. I’m very familiar with a different kind of conservative. People who say racist things and espouse racist policies frequently deny that they’re racist. They’ll say that it’s their accusers who are racist or say their comments have been misconstrued. They’ll find someone of color who has said something similar and use them as a shield. They’ll claim to have black friends. They’ll provide some non-racist rationale for the racist policies they promote. This I understand.

But it gets weird when a Neo-Nazi gets sensitive about being called a racist. Or, take the shooting in Buffalo. The shooter was unapologetic about his motive. He did everything he could to assure that people clearly understood his motive. Nonetheless, we see the spectacle of Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers claiming that the shooting was a false flag operation carried out by government officials. This theory has apparently been echoed by Nick Fuentes, who makes no bones about his racism and anti-Semitism.

You’d think these folks would openly embrace a mass shooting of innocent black grocery shoppers and call for more of it. After all, this is the kind of act they’re trying to incite. But they don’t choose that path. Instead, they deny it really happened how it happened. They act like it’s a frame-up to make them look bad.

Maybe this is way to escape responsibility or maybe it’s just as important to them to spread conspiracies about the evil cabal supposedly running the government, but it’s just weird.