Reprinted with permission from MediaMatters.
President Donald Trump tweeted a video showing him tackling and punching a man with the CNN logo imposed over his face. The video appears to have come from forum frequented by “alt-right” Trump supporters who posted it days earlier.
On July 2, Trump tweeted video that appeared to show Trump in a wrestling match attacking a man with “CNN” on his face, writing along with the video, “#FraudNewsCNN #FNN.”
#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
The Reddit forum “r/The_Donald,” where “alt-right” members supporting Trump congregate, posted a GIF four days prior that seems to be the same footage.
Following Trump’s tweet, users on the forum took credit for Trump’s promotion of the footage, with one user telling the original uploader of the GIF that his “dankery has been tweeted by the President of the United States.”
Trump’s tweet is the latest example of him promoting content that appears to have originated on online message boards such as Reddit and 4chan, which have regularly pushed conspiracy theories that some in Trump’s inner circle have sometimes promoted. During the presidential campaign, Trump’s campaign team monitored forums like “r/The_Donald” for content, and in May, Trump appeared to take messaging from “r/The_Donald” directed at Rosie O’Donnell. New York magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi noted this trend on CNN’s Reliable Sources, saying, “I think this has happened a number of times where something — it goes from Reddit to one of Donald Trump’s aides, and then to Donald Trump’s Twitter account.”
(h/t Brian Stelter and Bradd Jaffy)
