New York Times: “After the presidential election last year, the Proud Boys, a far-right group, declared its undying loyalty to President Trump. In a Nov. 8 post in a private channel of the messaging app Telegram, the group urged its followers to attend protests against an election that it said had been fraudulently stolen from Mr. Trump. ‘Hail Emperor Trump,’ the Proud Boys wrote. But by this week, the group’s attitude toward Mr. Trump had changed. ‘Trump will go down as a total failure,’ the Proud Boys said in the same Telegram channel on Monday.”

“As Mr. Trump departed the White House on Wednesday, the Proud Boys, once among his staunchest supporters, have also started leaving his side. In dozens of conversations on social media sites like Gab and Telegram, members of the group have begun calling Mr. Trump a ‘shill’ and ‘extraordinarily weak,’ according to messages reviewed by The New York Times. They have also urged supporters to stop attending rallies and protests held for Mr. Trump or the Republican Party. The comments are a startling turn for the Proud Boys, which for years backed Mr. Trump and promoted political violence. On social media, Proud Boys participants have complained about his willingness to leave office and said his disavowal of the Capitol rampage was an act of betrayal. And Mr. Trump, cut off on Facebook and Twitter, has been unable to talk directly to them to soothe their concerns or issue new rallying cries. ‘When Trump told them that if he left office, America would fall into an abyss, they believed him,’ Arieh Kovler, a political consultant and independent researcher in Israel who studies the far right, said of the Proud Boys. ‘Now that he has left office, they believe he has both surrendered and failed to do his patriotic duty.'”