[책추천 Hatemonger]
이란공습, 조지아, NSS, 마두로, 미네아폴리스, 그린란드...
이상한 일 투성이다.
지금 미국에서 벌어지는 생소한 풍경, 기이한 현상, 이해할 수 없는 장면들을 트럼프 대통령의 독트린 (MAGA라고 해두자) 이나 NSS만으로는 잘 설명하기 힘들었다.
행정부의 정책을 분석할 때 1. 독트린 및 구체적인 정책언명, 2. 예산 배분, 3. 인사 등을 중심으로 본다. 각각 다 의미가 있지만 특히 인사 요소가 가장 베일에 싸여있으면서도 흥미롭다. 개발업자 출신의 한 텀 건너뛴 재선 대통령으로 누군가의 확고한 조언없이는 할 수 없는 일들이 많이 보이기 때문이다.
한 명씩 들여다볼 요량으로 제일 먼저 스티븐 밀러에 관한 책을 살펴보았다.
1기 행정부 때 나온 책이기에 현재 벌어지는 일들을 다 설명하기는 어렵지만, 대략 감을 잡을 수는 있었다. 스티브 배넌을 따돌리고 두번째 행정부에서도 이면의 책사 역할을 하는 그의 이야기는 오늘 미국 정치를 이해하는 데 필요한 도움을 준다. 주로 에피소드들이라 읽기는 쉬운데, 내용은 무척 불편하다. 각 챕터별 제목만 봐도...
그는 트럼프 1기때 연설문 작성을 맡아 자신의 사상을 투영했고, 2기 때는 staff이 아닌 architect로 본격적으로 자리잡은듯하다. 어떤이는 그를 트럼프 행정부의 engine으로 묘사하기도 한다. 캘리포니아의 민주당 지지 집안에서 태어나 거의 유일하게 강성 공화당원으로 백인우월주의를 정책에 투영시키는 배경을 읽다보면 여러가지 생각이 든다. 어린시절부터 유색인종 및 이민자들에 대한 배타적 감정을 갖게된 스토리는 낯선듯 익숙하다.
어제 오늘 미네아폴리스 사건의 배경이 되는 ICE에 매일 필수 체포 및 추방인원을 공개적으로 지시하는 장면이 중첩되면서 이 책을 계속 뒤적이게 된다.
어린시절의 일화까지 다 읽기 부담스럽다면 정책을 유추할 수 있는
11장 American Carnage,
14장 These are Animals,
15장 Pandora's Box 그리고 결론으로 1
6장 Out of Love 순으로 읽으면 된다.
물론 그의 성정을 짐작하게 해주는 1-4장과 8장을 읽으면 훨씬 더 이해하기 좋고.
===
Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump
and the White Nationalist Agenda 2020
by Jean Guerrero (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (642)
See all formats and editions
“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 River
Stephen 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.
Read less
PROLOGUE
1
CHAPTER ONE "BROWN ANIMALS"
11
CHAPTER TWO "RIDICULOUS LIBERAL ELITE"
35
CHAPTER THREE "SPEAK ONLY ENGLISH"
53
CHAPTER FOUR "PICK UP MY TRASH"
69
CHAPTER FIVE "THERE IS NO PALESTINE"
85
CHAPTER SIX"CUT THEIR SKIN"
99
CHAPTER SEVEN "OUR WHOLE COUNTRY IS ROTTING"
115
CHAPTER EIGHT "I WANT TO HATE"
137
CHAPTER NINE "NEW DAY IN AMERICA"
153
CHAPTER TEN "WE LOVE DEFEATING THOSE PEOPLE"
165
CHAPTER ELEVEN "AMERICAN CARNAGE"
183
CHAPTER TWELVE "COSMOPOLITAN BIAS"
205
CHAPTER THIRTEEN "WHITE LIVES MATTER"
219
CHAPTER FOURTEEN "THESE ARE ANIMALS"
231
CHAPTER FIFTEEN "PANDORA'S BOX"
245
CHAPTER SIXTEEN "OUT OF LOVE"
261
Review
“Investigative reporter Jean Guerrero deftly uncovers how Stephen Miller―as a privileged California teenager desperate for attention and power―immersed himself in right-wing dark arts, attracting a motley crew of white supremacists and extremists eager to cultivate the precocious boy's interests. Under their tutelage, Miller developed a talent for twisting progressive rhetoric to his will―a skill the Trump administration has used to shape its most sadistic policies. Hatemonger is a must-read for those who want to understand how small minds steeped in extremist methods have amassed great power in the 21st century. A superbly reported and haunting American tragedy.” ― Rachel Slade, author of the national bestseller Into the Raging Sea
“In Hatemonger, Jean Guerrero doesn’t just catalogue Stephen Miller’s scorched-earth campaign to relentlessly vilify and abuse migrants from the nucleus of American politics―she also shines a light on the casual radicalization of a life-long troll and his gleeful ascendance to the halls of power, revealing the insidious inner workings of modern-day white supremacy. 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 River
“An urgent story. Jean Guerrero writes with piercing clarity about one of the most powerful and elusive figures in America today.” ― Wil S. Hylton, author of Vanished “An unsparing portrait of the young architect of Trumpian nationalism…carefully documented and persuasive. A readable study in the banality of evil, even if it comes clothed in bespoke suits.” ― Kirkus Reviews “A fascinating analysis of Miller and his frightening effects on immigration policy, which is enriched by the author’s vast experience reporting on the U.S.-Mexico border.” ― Library Journal
"A brilliant and necessary look into the making of the mastermind behind the worst of America's policies. Guerrero's deep dive into Stephen Miller was enlightening and terrifying all at once. Hatemonger is required reading to understand what we are truly up against in America." ― Julissa Arce, bestselling author of My (Underground) American Dream and Someone Like Me "Superb, deeply revelatory." ― Vanity Fair "Incisive and terrifying." ― Jezebel
"Jean Guerrero’s meticulously-researched biography of Stephen Miller, is a horrifying page-turner. Understanding who Miller is, and what motivates him, is key to understanding the racial politics that threaten the lives and safety of racially minoritized people living in the United States today." ― Myriam Gurba, Remezcla
"In her new book, Hatemonger, journalist Jean Guerrero provides a full portrait of this Nosferatu of the West Wing....The title 'Hatemonger' might seem sensational or overdramatic, but it is clinically precise. Miller acquires, packages, commercializes, and touts hatred as surely as a fishmonger peddles haddock and cod. Jean Guerrero has the emails." ― The Bulwark “[Hatemonger] is the secret history of how White Nationalism got into the White House.” ― The Majority Report "Smartly reported and urgent." ― Jeff Sharlet, Bookforum
===
About the Author
Jean Guerrero is the author of CRUX: A Cross-Border Memoir winner of the PEN/FUSION Emerging Writers prize. She is an Emmy-winning investigative border reporter for KPBS in San Diego; she contributes to NPR, PBS and other public media. Her America's Wall series shines a light on the bipartisan nature of US/Mexico border barriers. Months before Trump's family separations captured national attention, her reporting was cited by a Congressional inquiry. She started her career at the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires as a correspondent in Mexico City, trekking through mountains with coffee smugglers, opium poppy producers and maize farmers across Latin America.
She was named "Latina Journalist On The Rise" by the California Chicano News Media Association. The San Diego City Beat picked her as one of San Diego's "Best People." Her writing is featured in the forthcoming Best American Essays 2019, edited by Rebecca Solnit.
Product details
Publisher : HarperCollins US
Publication date : 7 October 2020
From other countries
- Cosimo de MediciReviewed in the United States on 16 June 2025
A superb biography of an American Eichmann.
This exceptionally well researched and documented biography of Stephen Miller covers his family background, childhood, formative years at Santa Monica, California, High School, Duke University and his association and growth with right wing "thought leaders" (Stephen Bannon, David Horowitz, etc.) and his work for Sen. Jeff Sessions and ultimate recruitment as Donald Trump's speechwriter and policy developer. The author does a solid job of explaining the sources of Mr. Miller's White Nationalist credo and intense animus toward immigrants, particularly those from non-white races.
In those capacities, Miller's role as the primary architect of the cruel immigration policies - including the separation of young children from their parents - is extensively supported by quotes from Miller's own writings and by detailed accounts of interviews with persons who worked with him at the White House and quite a few government agencies.
This biography is well written, accurate and balanced up to the point of Miller's first marriage during
Trump 1. This book makes clear the source of contemporary conflicts over immigration during the current administration. - ZeevKReviewed in France on 7 August 2025
Trump’s anti-immigrantion dybbuk - essential reading
This book provides excellent information about its subject, Stephen Miller.The book’s content appears to be well documented and fact based. The story related about his life is depressing. If there is any important criticism, it is that the book doesn’t sufficiently explain the aetiology of his hatred for immigrants, especially those who aren’t ‘’white.’’ Somewhere in his classic book ‘’Strangers in the Land,’’ the historian John Higham suggests that anti East European immigration laws passed early in the 20th century may have prevented approximately a million of the Jews murdered by Nazis from being able to immigrate to America. These laws, among other purposes, were passed because antisemites wanted to cut back on the large number of Jews immigrating to America. They would have almost certainly prevented Stephen Miller’s family from escaping antisemitic pogroms. Instead, they would have been fodder for the Nazis and their helpers. - Donna MurphyReviewed in Canada on 7 October 2025
Too much detail that doesn’t support the point
Too wordy with details that don’t support a point the author is trying to make. For a reader it’s too much detail and hard to track with the author is trying to say in any given chapter or paragraph. - BooReviewed in the United States on 17 November 2025
Must read
In-depth, readable reporting on a person who should IMO have NO influence in American government - Annie2Reviewed in the United States on 31 December 2021
Well-written and Disturbing
It is horrifying that an unattractive, unlikable, creepy little sociopath like Stephen Miller could have exerted so much influence on the policies and decision-making of a President of The United States. IMO, the fact that this happened is largely due to the character flaws of that president and Stephen Miller’s uncanny ability to exploit them to advance his own diabolical agenda. Apparently aware—on some level—of his own lack of charisma and personal appeal, he became the ultimate “Trump whisperer,” content to subjugate his own ego, forfeit the spotlight, and cleverly manipulate and influence the POTUS by stroking his ego and feeding his insatiable need for hyperbolic praise and flattery. I had thought Trump was the ultimate user and manipulator, but this well-researched book relates how Miller bested him at his own game. I doubt that Trump is even aware of it! DJT plans to recapture the Oval Office in 2024, and Stephen Miller, no doubt, plans to reprise his role as Trump-whisperer and shadowy puppet-master. Separately, each of these two deeply flawed men (especially Trump) poses a real danger. The unholy combination of the two constitutes an absolute horror! - Megan MacomberReviewed in the United States on 16 July 2025
The Origins of an Ideological Serial Killer
Trump's 2024 reelection rode on Stephen Miller's hateful lies about immigrants. Now that hatred is consuming the nation in the form of masked ICE raids on our neighbors, with human beings disappeared to foreign prisons. Jean Guerrero's meticulously researched book provides the Stephen Miller origin story: how as a teenager he found far-right "stars" to mentor him, calcifying a worldview he formed in middle school.
I wanted to know where Miller was coming from. This is THE book, impossible to improve upon. - Londy rileyReviewed in the United States on 22 September 2025
Everyone should read!
Very true writing... - Dorislynn QuinonesReviewed in the United States on 10 July 2023
Deep dive into Trump and Miller
This books was highly informative about the beginnings of Stephen Miller and the people who helped to create the person (maybe persona) that he is today. It brings people from his past into the folds in interesting interviews which help to form a background on this man’s life, and how he came to bring about so much pain for immigrants to the United States in the Trump administration.
Overall a fascinating, and tough, read. It’s not tough because the book is bad, but because it hurts to see just how people like him can be impacted and have such large roles in our society. - E. LewisReviewed in the United States on 1 March 2021
Its really about humankind's place in the rest of nature
In his lecture at receiving the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug included “But the frightening power of human reproduction must also be curbed; otherwise the success of the green revolution will be ephemeral only. Most people still fail to comprehend the magnitude and menace of the "Population Monster"...Since man is potentially a rational being, however, I am confident that within the next two decades he will recognize the self-destructive course he steers along the road of irresponsible population growth..." The world population has doubled since 1970 and few have recognized the "self-destructive course." Some even take comfort in the fact that the percentage growth rate has halved. In 1970, the 80 million per year growth was 2 percent per year. In 2021, 80 million per year is just 1 percent per year. With its native-born population reproducing at a level well below replacement, America is in the enviable position of being able to stabilize its population and still remain a nation of immigrants. Guerrero’s book illustrates how easily the emotional side of human nature can make us blind to that opportunity. - K. GibsonReviewed in the United States on 3 September 2020
Fascinating and Infuriating
This could be the inspiring story of a guy who's always wanted to work in public service, make the world a better place, and worked his tail off to make it happen, all before his 40th birthday. Instead, it's the story of Stephen Miller, a white nationalist whose goal in life is to stop the immigration of people of color to the US and make everyone who doesn't share his goal miserable in the process.
This books demonstrates it's not what you know but who you know, as Miller has made it a point to cultivate relationships with like-minded people since he was in high school. Unlike the average teenage boy who may have dreams of becoming a famous athlete or the next tech bazillionaire, Miller actually reaches out to white supremacists who have any type of public image and becomes their mentee. Those relationships earn him references for positions with government officials who share his goals, until he finally ends up in the Trump administration. The drive and determination would be amazing if only he had better intentions. - =====
도서 정보
제목: Hatemonger (헤이트몽거: 혐오를 파는 자)
저자: 진 게레로 (Jean Guerrero)
출판년도: 2020년
1. 요약
스티븐 밀러의 기원과 급진화 이 책은 도널드 트럼프 행정부의 가장 영향력 있는 정책 보좌관이자 연설 작성가였던 스티븐 밀러(Stephen Miller)의 생애와 사상을 추적한다. 캘리포니아의 리버럴한 유대인 가정에서 태어난 밀러가 어떻게 극우 백인 민족주의(White Nationalism)의 기수로 변모했는지를 탐구한다. 저자는 밀러의 고등학교 시절부터 시작해, 그가 9.11 테러 이후 어떻게 급진적인 보수 이념에 심취하게 되었는지 보여준다. 당시 그는 다문화주의와 진보적 교육 환경에 반기를 들며, 학교 내에서 히스패닉 학생들과 갈등을 빚고 자신을 <박해받는 보수주의자>로 프레임화하기 시작했다.
멘토와 이념적 뿌리 밀러의 사상적 형성에 결정적인 영향을 미친 인물은 데이비드 호로위츠(David Horowitz)다. 과거 좌파였으나 극우로 전향한 호로위츠는 밀러에게 <전쟁>으로서의 정치를 가르쳤다. 호로위츠는 민주당과 좌파가 미국을 파괴하려 한다는 편집증적인 세계관을 심어주었고, 밀러를 자신의 보호 아래 두고 보수 미디어와 정치계에 소개했다. 특히 밀러는 장 라스파유의 소설 <성자들의 진영(The Camp of the Saints)> 같은 백인 우월주의 문학에 깊이 빠져들었다. 이 소설은 제3세계 난민들이 서구를 침략하여 문명을 파괴한다는 내용을 담고 있는데, 밀러는 이 디스토피아적 환상을 현실 정치에 적용하여 이민자를 <침략자>로 규정하는 세계관을 확립했다.
트럼프와의 만남과 킹메이커로서의 역할 제프 세션스 상원의원의 공보 비서로 일하며 워싱턴 정가에서 이민 반대 여론을 주도하던 밀러는 2016년 트럼프 캠프에 합류했다. 트럼프는 본능적인 선동가였지만, 구체적인 정책이나 이념적 체계가 부족했다. 밀러는 트럼프의 분노와 혐오 발언에 논리적 구조와 정책적 구체성을 부여했다. 그는 트럼프의 연설문을 작성하며 <미국 우선주의(America First)>라는 슬로건 아래 고립주의와 반이민 정서를 세련된 언어로 포장했다. 밀러는 트럼프의 입을 빌려 백인 노동계급의 불안을 자극하고, 그들의 분노를 유색인종 이민자들에게 돌리게 만드는 데 핵심적인 역할을 했다.
백악관의 막후 실세와 공포의 정책 트럼프 당선 이후 밀러는 백악관 선임 고문으로서 전례 없는 권력을 휘둘렀다. 그는 <무슬림 입국 금지 행정명령>, <가족 분리 정책(무관용 정책)> 등 트럼프 행정부의 가장 논쟁적인 이민 정책들을 설계하고 실행했다. 저자는 밀러가 관료주의의 허점을 이용하고, 반대파 관료들을 숙청하며 자신의 의제를 관철시키는 과정을 상세히 묘사한다. 밀러에게 이민 제한은 단순한 정책이 아니라, 미국의 인구학적 변화를 막고 백인 주류 사회를 보존하기 위한 <성전>이었다. 그는 언론을 조작하고 통계를 왜곡하여 이민자들이 범죄와 질병을 퍼뜨린다는 공포를 조장했다. 책은 밀러가 트럼프 행정부 내의 온건파들이 모두 떠난 뒤에도 끝까지 살아남아 트럼프의 <뇌>로서 기능했음을 강조한다.
2. 평론
악의 평범성과 치밀한 기획자 진 게레로의 <Hatemonger>는 단순히 한 정치인의 전기가 아니라, 현대 미국 정치에서 혐오가 어떻게 무기화되는지를 보여주는 탁월한 보고서다. 이 책의 가장 큰 미덕은 스티븐 밀러를 단순한 <악당>이나 <괴물>로 묘사하는 데 그치지 않고, 그가 만들어진 사회적, 정치적 맥락을 꼼꼼하게 짚어낸다는 점이다. 밀러는 카리스마 넘치는 지도자가 아니라, 어두운 구석에서 서류와 법 조항을 연구하며 시스템을 조작하는 <테크노크라트형 선동가>다. 저자는 밀러가 어떻게 백인 우월주의 사이트의 음모론을 백악관의 공식 정책으로 세탁(laundering)했는지 설득력 있게 보여준다. 이는 한나 아렌트가 말한 <악의 평범성>이 현대 관료제 안에서 어떻게 작동하는지를 상기시킨다.
저널리즘적 엄밀함과 심리적 통찰 저자 게레로는 멕시코계 미국인으로서 이민 문제에 대한 깊은 이해와 함께, 방대한 인터뷰와 자료 조사를 통해 객관성을 확보하려 노력했다. 밀러의 어린 시절 친구, 가족, 전 직장 동료 등 100명이 넘는 사람들을 인터뷰하여 밀러의 내면을 입체적으로 재구성했다. 특히 밀러가 대학 시절 진보적 학풍에 대항하기 위해 <의도적인 도발>을 일삼으며 희열을 느꼈다는 분석은, 현재 <트롤링(trolling)> 문화가 어떻게 주류 정치를 잠식했는지 이해하는 데 중요한 단서를 제공한다. 밀러에게 정치는 대화와 타협이 아니라, 상대를 파괴하고 굴복시키는 게임이었다.
트럼프주의(Trumpism)의 본질에 대한 해부 이 책은 트럼프라는 인물보다 트럼프주의를 만든 <설계자>에 주목함으로써, 트럼프 현상의 본질을 더 명확하게 드러낸다. 트럼프가 무대 위의 배우라면, 밀러는 그 대본을 쓰고 무대를 연출한 감독이었다. 트럼프의 즉흥적인 혐오 발언들이 어떻게 실제 법안과 행정명령으로 구체화되었는지를 추적함으로써, 저자는 트럼프 행정부의 혼란스러움 이면에 아주 일관된 <백인 민족주의 어젠다>가 존재했음을 증명한다. 이는 트럼프가 퇴임한 이후(혹은 재집권 시)에도 이 이념적 구조가 공화당과 미국 보수 진영에 깊이 뿌리박혀 지속될 것임을 시사한다.
한계와 의의 다만, 책이 밀러의 개인적 심리나 과거 에피소드에 다소 많은 지면을 할애하여, 구조적인 문제나 민주당의 대응 실패 등을 상대적으로 덜 다루었다는 아쉬움은 있다. 그러나 <증오>가 어떻게 개인의 신념을 넘어 국가의 통치 원리가 될 수 있는지를 파헤친 이 책은, 오늘날 전 세계적으로 확산되는 우파 포퓰리즘을 이해하기 위한 필수적인 텍스트다. 이민자를 악마화하는 것이 정치적 이득이 되는 시대에, <Hatemonger>는 그 증오의 메커니즘을 해체하여 우리에게 경종을 울린다.
세진님, 이 책은 트럼프 행정부의 이면을 이해하는 데 매우 중요한 자료입니다. 추가로 궁금한 점이 있으시면 언제든지 말씀해 주세요.
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