A vital book for understanding the still-unfolding nightmare of nationalism and racism in the
21st century. -Francisco Cantu author of The Line Becomes a RiverStephen Miller is one of the
most influential advisors in the White House. He has crafted Donald Trump's speeches designed
immigration policies that ban Muslims and separate families and outlasted such Trump stalwarts
as Steve Bannon and Jeff Sessions. But he's remained an enigma.Until now. Emmy- and PEN-winning
investigative journalist and author Jean Guerrero charts the thirty-four-year-old's astonishing
rise to power drawing from more than one hundred interviews with his family friends
adversaries and government officials.Radicalized as a teenager Miller relished provocation at
his high school in liberal Santa Monica California. He clashed with administrators and
antagonized dark-skinned classmates with invectives against bilingualism and multiculturalism.
At Duke University he cloaked racist and classist ideas in the language of patriotism and
heritage to get them airtime amid controversies. On Capitol Hill he served Tea Party
congresswoman Michele Bachmann and nativist Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions.Recruited to Trump's
campaign Miller met his idol. Having dreamed of Trump's presidency before he even announced
his decision to run Miller became his senior policy advisor and speechwriter. Together they
stoked dystopian fears about the Democrats Deep State and American Carnage painting migrants
and their supporters as an existential threat to America. Through backroom machinations and
sheer force of will Miller survived dozens of resignations and encouraged Trump's harshest
impulses in conflict with the president's own family. While Trump railed against illegal
immigration Miller crusaded against legal immigration. He targeted refugees asylum seekers
and their children engineering an ethical crisis for a nation that once saw itself as the
conscience of the world. Miller rallied support for this agenda even as federal judges tried
to stop it by courting the white rage that found violent expression in tragedies from El Paso
to Charlottesville.Hatemonger unveils the man driving some of the most divisive confrontations
over what it means to be American--and what America will become.
