Overview
- The acronym gained traction on X and other platforms after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis on January 7.
- The label stands for Affluent White Female Urban Liberal and had circulated since last summer, appearing on Wiktionary this month with variants such as AWFL.
- Prominent amplification included a January 7 post by conservative commentator Erik Erickson and an Elon Musk boost of a related message to his followers.
- A DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, downplayed attention to acronyms and said the department is focused on immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
- Backlash has cast the rhetoric as dehumanizing and misogynistic, with polling indicating college-educated white women are broadly unfavorable toward Trump.