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Tag: far right media
Far-Right Media Still Pushing Super Bowl Conspiracy Theories

Far-Right Media Still Pushing Super Bowl Conspiracy Theories

Following months of right-wing attacks on singer Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, far-right social media accounts continued to push baseless conspiracy theories about the singer — as well as the game itself — during and after the 2024 Super Bowl.

  • Right-wing media figures relentlessly attacked Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce leading up to the Super Bowl, eventually drawing criticism from some right-wing peers
    • Swift’s relationship with Kelce has been drawing right-wing ire for months. In September, Kelce’s appearances in advertising campaigns for Pfizer and Bud Light spurred anti-vax and anti-LGBTQ attacks against the couple. [Media Matters, 9/27/23]
    • Prior to the Superbowl, right-wing figures claimed Swift was a Democratic operative or part of a “psyop.” They also claimed that the game would be rigged for Kelce’s team to win and that a Chiefs victory would strengthen Swift’s potential endorsement of President Joe Biden. [Media Matters, 2/1/24]

    • Even some right-wing media figures started begging fellow conservatives to stop attacking Swift. Some figures recognized the absurdity of such theories, asking their colleagues and peers to focus on more important issues heading into the 2024 election cycle. The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro said, “Guys, not everything you don’t like is a conspiracy.” [Media Matters, 2/2/24]
  • QAnon figures and far-right accounts accused Swift’s Super Bowl guest Ice Spice of being a “satanist” and “summoning demons”
    • QAnon account Shadow of Ezra claimed that Ice Spice, who came to the game with Swift, was “seen making hand gestures associated with Satanic symbolism while wearing an upside-down cross.” The account also said the Super Bowl was “nothing but a major Satanic ritual.” [Twitter/X, 2/11/24; Media Matters, 7/17/23]
    • QAnon influencer Brian Cates said Ice Spice threw “up the devil sign with both hands and then does the double-hand collar lift to hold up the upside down cross to make sure attention is drawn to it.” [Twitter/X, 2/11/24; Media Matters, 5/18/23]
    • QAnon influencer John Sabal (aka “QAnon John”) called Swift an “alcoholic harlot who likes to hang out with Satanists,” asking if “that thing next to her” was “summoning demons” with an “upside down cross.” [Gab, 2/11/24; Media Matters, 9/27/23]
    • QAnon influencerMJTruth posted a video of Ice Spice and Taylor Swift at the football game titled “A satanist performing a satanic ritual, while the drunken harlot gets hammered.” [Rumble, 2/11/24; Media Matters, 7/28/23]
    • Right-wing Twitter account For America posted, “With Chiefs down 3 how many more demons will Ice Spice summon?!?” [Twitter/X, 2/11/24]
    • Anti-vaccine figure Erin Elizabeth posted on Twitter, “Ice Spice who accompanied Taylor Swift to tonight's game throwing up satanic symbols while wearing an upside down cross.” [Twitter/X, 2/11/24; Media Matters, 11/22/22]
    • Right-wing account End Wokeness said Ice Spice was showing “demonic hand gestures on the big screen” with an “upside down cross” and “not even hiding it.” [Twitter/X, 2/11/24]
    • Former Fox News producer Kyle Becker accused Ice Spice of “demon summoning,” sharing a video of her touching her necklace. [Twitter/X, 2/11/24]
    • Real America’s Voice’s Ben Bergquam claimed that Swift was in “all black chugging while her friend Ice Spice wearing an upside down cross signs to the devil.” Bergquam called this “spiritual warfare” and asked God to “rebuke the evil and witchcraft of this generation.” [Twitter/X, 2/11/24]
  • Other far-right figures claimed that the Super Bowl was “rigged” and the NFL is a “scam”
    • QAnon influencer Sun Tzu called the NFL a “scam” because it had announced “the address of the stadium in Las Vegas after Kansas City won the Super Bowl,” which was “333.” According to SunTzusWar, “Who has ever announced the address of the stadium of the Super Bowl? Just saying.” [Twitter/X, 2/11/24; Media Matters, 12/12/23]
    • “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander called the Super Bowl “totally fake & rigged,” adding, “Notice no grass stains.” [Telegram, 2/11/24]
      • The Biden Twitter/X page posted a Dark Brandon meme, and QAnon John said it was “signaling to everyone that the Super Bowl was RIGGED in their favor.” He also called it “direct comms.” [Gab, 2/11/24; Jezebel, 2/12/24]
      • QAnon personality Woke Societies posted, “Tell me the nfl isn’t rigged.” [Telegram, 2/11/24; Media Matters, 4/18/22]
  • QAnon figures have continued the trend of labeling Swift a “psyop”
      • QAnon John posted screenshots of Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama congratulating the Chiefs and “Taylor Swift’s boyfriend” with the caption “PSYOP CONFIRMED.” [Gab, 2/12/24]
      • QAnon influencer Jordan Sather: “There’s more aliens featured during this game than Taylor Swift. Subliminal soft disclosure be strong. Prepping our minds for something later this year? Psyop me harder baby.” [Telegram, 2/11/24; The Hill, 6/15/21]
      • A user on the QAnon forum TheDonald posted a picture of Taylor Swift with the caption “totally not a psyop.” [Patriots.win, 2/11/24; Media Matters, 12/12/23]

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

#Endorse This: Schwarzenegger Delivers Beautiful Message To Russians

#Endorse This: Schwarzenegger Delivers Beautiful Message To Russians

So we now live in a world where members of one major political party (ahem, Republicans) are feckless, disgraceful attention-whores siding with Vladimir Putin -- and former action stars are thoughtful, empathetic, and patriotic leaders.

While Fox News is pumping a steady stream of Kremlin propaganda , renowned actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appealed directly to the people of Russia as he seeks to “debunk mistruths” surrounding the invasion of Ukraine.

Schwarzenegger, claiming to be a “longtime friend of the Russian people”, told them bluntly that “Ukraine did not start the war”.

“Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the Russian people’s war,” the actor said -- and they “are not being told the truth about consequences.”


Fox News Host Hillaiorusly Fails in Attempt to Own Libs With Fake Graphic

Fox News Host Hillaiorusly Fails in Attempt to Own Libs With Fake Graphic

When it comes to shoveling grade A bullsh*t to its ignorant audience, Fox News takes the entire bakery. Fox News host Dan Bongino was the latest lying liar to blatantly lie after airing a totally inaccurate graphic in a pathetic attempt to make the bogus correlation between “unhealthy” U.S. cities and those governed by Democratic policies.

During the Saturday evening “Unfiltered” segment casting liberals as “unhealthy,” Bongino put up a graphic that read, “Top Ten Most Unhealthy U.S. Cities.” Perhaps it just goes to show how dumb Bongino is or how ignorant Fox News viewers are, but anyone with a functioning brain cell knows that cosmopolitan cities like San Francisco and Austin consist of nothing but gluten-free, health-conscious liberals.

It turns out there was one tiny problem in Bongino’s rant.

WalletHub, the website the Fox News host cited for the graphic, clearly stated in their research that the metropolitan cities referenced—including Seattle, Portland, and Washington, D.C., among others—are actually the “healthiest places to live in the U.S.”


Aside from cheating like a third-grader glomming off another kid's test, Bongino's graphic managed to mistake Irvine, California for Irving, Texas. But since when have facts and truth ever gotten in the way of dopey Fox News hosts pushing their far-right agenda?

“You look at some of the health outcomes in these inner cities the Democrats have run monopolistically for decades, and you stand a pretty darn good chance of dying in one of these inner cities,” he continued, “Far more likely than if you lived in areas where they gave a damn about people and their healthcare outcomes.”

After getting called out on this obvious right-wing propaganda, Fox attempted to erase it from memory by removing the graphic during a re-run of the program.

Michael Hayne is a comedian, writer, voice artist, podcaster, and impressionist. Follow his work on Facebook and TikTok

98-year old World War II veteran Pete DuPré

Far Right Media Slurs Women’s Soccer Team Over Alleged Flag Incident

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer amplified a false claim exploding on conservative social media, retweeting a video wrongly claiming members of the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team "turned their backs on 98-year old World War II veteran Pete DuPré" as he "played the National Anthem on his harmonica."

"Embarrassing and disrespectful," Spicer tweeted. "If you are embarrassed to be an American then don't play on the US team – there are plenty of people ready to take your place."

Far right wing media outlets also exploded with stories. The Daily Caller led the rabid attack with a headline that read: "U.S. Soccer Players Turn Away From National Anthem Played By WWII Veteran."

Breitbart, The Post Millennial, NewsMax, and Russian government website RT all published similar stories.

Fox News Tuesday morning jumped on board, but with a headline that read: "US Soccer denies women's team disrespected WWII veteran before send-off match." The Daily Caller later updated their false story to read: "US Soccer Federation Says Players Weren't Protesting After Video Of National Anthem Line-Up Causes Controversy."

And unable to accept reality, Town Hall early Tuesday ran with this: "Stay Classy, Ladies: Did Some Members of the USWNT Turn Their Backs on a 98-Year-Old WWII Veteran?"

The answer is a resounding no – but if they had they absolutely would have been exercising their First Amendment rights to do so.

Video from ESPN shows several team members facing forward, and some turned facing away from Pete DuPré but they are facing the American flag, which protocol calls for. Some of those facing the flag clearly have their hands on their hearts, others bowed their heads in respect.

The U.S. Soccer communications team was forced to put out a statement correcting the right wing's false claims.

Here's video of them doing just that:

On of the players also pushed back against the false reports:

No one, from Sean Spicer to any of the right wing media, has apologized to the players for baselessly attacking them. But they all maintain their "patriotism."