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Brenden Dilley

Trump 'Meme Team' Troll Brenden Dilley Spews Racism, Sexism, And Homophobia

Content warning: This article contains anti-LGBTQ, ableist, and misogynistic commentary and slurs, and other profane language.

Brenden Dilley, a far-right podcaster who previously pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory, leads a “meme team” that creates pro-Trump content that The New York Times says “traffics freely in misinformation,” “racist stereotypes,” and “demeaning tropes about L.G.B.T.Q. people.”

Media Matters conducted a monthslong review of Dilley’s show, which regularly streams on right-wing video-sharing platform Rumble, and found that the Trump ally regularly traffics in misogynistic, discriminatory, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. There are dozens of examples so far this year in which he made comments like saying he wished women would “focus on their pretty dresses and their house and their children and making me sexually satisfied all the time, and food” instead of focusing on politics, claiming that Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was a “DEI” hire, and saying that transgender people were “fucked in the head.”

Dilley has also bragged on his show about his ties to Republican officials, including former President Donald Trump and Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, and called for his followers to aid them, including by targeting their political opponents with “psychological warfare.” Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly shared material from Dilley’s “meme team” and supposedly said he “loves” Dilley, while his campaign has reportedly shared footage for Dilley’s team to use and given Dilley press passes for a campaign event.

Dilley has also threatened and spread baseless claims about former President Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and other people he disagrees with.

Dilley is a former Republican congressional candidate turned online show host who has pushed conspiracy theories and formed a “meme team”

  • Dilley unsuccessfully ran for Congress in Arizona in 2018. He lost the Republican primary for a 2018 special election for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, billing himself as a “staunch believer in the Make America Great Again movement.” [The Arizona Republic, 2/27/18; The New York Times, 12/13/23]
  • Dilley previously supported the QAnon conspiracy theory, and he has since denied the theory’s existence (which its central figure has encouraged people to do) and invoked the QAnon-linked adrenochrome conspiracy theory. In the past, Dilley wore QAnon hats and covered posts from QAnon’s central figure, “Q,” on his show. He has since dubiously claimed that he “never was all in for Q” but also invoked the conspiracy theory among QAnon supporters that elites are harvesting a substance called adrenochrome from children to gain youth. [Media Matters, 1/29/24, 2/20/24; The Daily Beast, 8/14/20; The Dilley Show, 4/9/24, 4/24/24]
  • Dilley used to air a show on YourVoice America, the online channel of right-wing commentator Bill Mitchell. Mitchell has repeatedly promoted conspiracy theories, including the QAnon conspiracy theory. [Right Wing Watch, 8/1/18, 9/18/18; Media Matters, 7/9/19, 3/24/20]
  • Dilley said he created his “meme team” following the January 6 insurrection and decided to turn it into a “political weapon” after Trump launched his 2024 campaign. In an interview on Real America’s Voice , Dilley said that in 2020 he was banned from social media. And after the January 6 insurrection, he “let all of the memers know if they need a place to go, if they’re getting banned, here’s a Telegram chat I created private just for them, and they can still create content, and I’ll continue to play it for my audience.” He claimed that in the following years they “refine[d]” their “skills” and that once Trump launched his 2024 presidential campaign, “we pretty much knew it was game time, and we were going to take all those skills that we had been refining and utilizing just for entertainment purposes, and we were going to turn it into a political weapon.” [Real America’s Voice, Smack Down with Pastor Darrell Scott, 2/17/24]
  • Dilley said in 2020 that he didn’t “give a fuck about being factual” and “it doesn't matter if it's true” and that he would “make shit up.” In 2020, Dilley said, “My objective is to destroy Democrats, OK? Destroy liberals, liberalism as an idea, Democrats, and anything that opposes President Trump.” He added, “You don’t have to fact check me because I don’t give a fuck,” and “I fucking make up shit sometimes, from time to time. I don’t care. I don’t care. Democrats know it. Republicans know it. I don’t mind admitting it. I don’t give a shit. … When I get a chance to shit on the left, I don’t mind making shit up. No, not at all.” And the year before, Dilley said, “It doesn’t have to be true; it just has to go viral.” [Right Wing Watch, 1/2/24; Twitter/X, 5/4/20]
  • During Trump’s presidency, Dilley threatened violence against protesters. Dilley said in response to protests over George Floyd’s murder in 2020 that he and millions of other gun owners were waiting for Trump to give “us the green light to finish this entire thing in under an hour.” [Right Wing Watch, 1/2/24]
  • Trump and his campaign have repeatedly shared material from Dilley’s “meme team,” including a video regarding a “unified Reich.” The New York Times reported that Dilley’s group “traffics freely in misinformation, artificial intelligence and digital forgeries known as deepfakes,” and its memes “are riddled with racist stereotypes, demeaning tropes about L.G.B.T.Q. people and broad scatological humor.” Trump has repeatedly shared content from the group on his social media, as have members of his orbit, including as recently as June 10 when Trump shared a video and claimed that President Joe Biden “hates the military.” In May, Trump also shared a video from a member of Dilley’s “meme team” that mentions a “unified Reich.” [The New York Times, 12/13/23; Media Matters, 5/21/24; Truth Social, 6/10/24]
  • Trump has been photographed with Dilley’s “meme team” and seemingly coordinated with the group. According to The New York Times, Dilley and his “meme team” members have “posted numerous photos of themselves posing with Mr. Trump, spending time with his advisers and attending events at Trump properties,” and Trump’s campaign has also “privately communicated with members of the meme team, giving them access and making specific requests for content.” Additionally, “in at least one instance, the campaign shared behind-the-scenes footage to be used in videos, according to members of the team.” Trump has also “sent personalized notes to several of the group’s members, thanking them for their work.” [The New York Times, 12/13/23]

On his show, Dilley has repeatedly played up his ties to Republican politicians, consultants, and staff, including Trump and Kari Lake

  • Dilley claimed he’s been told that Trump said he would never disavow Dilley and his “meme team” because he “loves” them. Dilley said that “somebody who was a very, very good friend of President Trump” told them that Trump is “never going to disavow you because he loves you and he loves the Dilley meme team.” [The Dilley Show, 1/5/24]
  • Dilley bragged that he was the only pro-Trump figure “who was allocated 20 fucking tickets for me to distribute” for Trump’s Iowa caucuses event. Dilley said, “I challenge you to find anyone else, an influencer or otherwise, who was allocated 20 fucking tickets … to distribute,” adding that it shows that “the campaign completely trusts our judgment, specifically mine, to make sure that the most worthy and hardworking MAGA are in attendance at all of his rallies.” [The Dilley Show, 1/11/24]
  • Dilley bragged that he received “exclusive” press credentials to the Trump campaign’s Iowa caucuses “War Room,” where he interviewed Kari Lake and Iowa’s attorney general. Dilley said they gave him credentials “because I’m Brenden Dilley of the Dilley meme team.” He also bragged that he got an “exclusive” press credential that had “Dilley 300” written on it, which he claimed got him into the “Trump War Room.” [Media Matters, 1/29/24]
  • Dilley claimed that Trump met a member of his “meme team” and asked for her phone number. Dilley said a member of his “meme team” met Trump and told him that she helped create one of the team’s pro-Trump videos, and then he asked for her phone number “in the event that he needs more videos.” Dilley also showed an image of another supposed member of his team meeting Trump, and claimed that Trump “lit up when he found out” he was a member of Dilley’s “team.” [The Dilley Show, 2/19/24]
  • Dilley claimed now-Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump encouraged his “meme team” to make videos for her. Dilley shared a text from a supposed “meme team” member who met Lara Trump, saying, “Here’s a shot for DITW [Dilley in the wild]. When I told Lara I was with The Dilley Show and Brenden Dilley specifically wanted her to know the DMT [Dilley Meme Team] will make memes for her she lit up and said, ‘oh yes, please!’” [The Dilley Show, 2/22/24, 3/13/24]
  • Dilley bragged that the RNC is “completely full, from top to bottom, with Dilley meme team fans.” In March, Dilley claimed on the show that he was “friends with” multiple new RNC employees, including Christina Bobb, who had been newly installed as senior counsel for election integrity at the RNC, saying she was “a friend of the show and absolutely loves the Dilley meme team.” He added that the RNC was “now completely full, from top to bottom, with Dilley meme team fans and Dilley Show friends.” [Media Matters, 4/3/24; The Dilley Show, 3/13/24]
  • Dilley said Lake told a member of his “meme team” that she “love[s]” Dilley. According to Dilley, a member wearing apparel from his “team” met Lake and she said, “Oh my God, I love him. Tell Brenden I said hi.” [The Dilley Show, 4/15/24]
  • Dilley claimed that “a senior, senior, senior member of our beloved Trump 2024 campaign” texted him about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Dilley said that this supposed Trump campaign member texted him about a post of his regarding the independent presidential candidate and wrote, “fucking devastating.” [The Dilley Show, 5/8/24]
  • Dilley suggested that he would “help people on the transition team” if Trump is reelected. [The Dilley Show, 5/14/24]
  • Dilley said he “had a half-an-hour conversation with the [Trump] campaign” about how to help get “committeemen and delegates for Trump.” Dilley said that Trump’s campaign was “calling upon the Dilley 300 phone bank team” and had tasked his “meme team” “to try and get people to sign up and be committeemen and delegates for Trump.” [The Dilley Show, 5/29/24, 5/30/24]
  • Dilley said that he met with the Trump campaign’s “state director for Georgia” to discuss how he could help the campaign. He said that he “had a wonderful breakfast with the state director for Georgia this morning” to discuss “how I can help and what The Dilley Show can do to facilitate a fucking massive victory here in Georgia.” [The Dilley Show, 6/7/24]
  • Dilley claimed he heard from Lake that Trump said one of Dilley’s “meme team” videos was “one of the best videos I’ve ever seen.” Dilley said he passed along that “the Dilley meme team is honored” by Trump’s embrace of their content. [The Dilley Show, 1/15/24]
  • Dilley said he and his wife “have spent a lot of time chitchatting and hanging out with” his “friend” Lake. [The Dilley Show, 2/12/24]
  • Dilley claimed that there is “no buffer between myself and Kari Lake or the Dilley meme team and Kari Lake.” He said that while Trump knows him, his wife, and his “meme team,” “there are buffers between us and him because it's taken longer to establish that relationship and obviously he’s Donald Trump.” In contrast, he said, “there is no buffer between myself and Kari Lake or the Dilley meme team and Kari Lake.” [The Dilley Show, 4/17/24]
  • Dilley also claimed a member of Congress gave him their phone number and they texted. According to Dilley, after he criticized members of Congress in late 2023, “a congressman had reached out to me and said, ‘I’d like for you to have my number. … We can discuss anything you want or text me.’” He also said they later texted. [The Dilley Show, 1/1/24]
  • Dilley claimed that GOP political consultant Alex Bruesewitz is a “big friend” of his “meme team” and an “honorary Dilley meme team” member. Dilley said Bruesewitz was “a good friend of mine, and he’s [a] big friend of the meme team. Loves the entire Dilley meme team.” [The Dilley Show, 2/12/24, 2/19/24]
  • Dilley: “Some of your favorite MAGA people, like your favorite candidates,” are “calling me for counsel constantly.” Dilley claimed that he’ll “reach out” and “check in” on campaigns and candidates, saying he’ll “call them or they’re calling me for counsel constantly,” adding that he also does this “with some of your most influential political fucking operatives.” [The Dilley Show, 4/16/24]
  • Dilley claimed that “one of the most probably respectable minds in all of politics” said that “Biden has an asymmetrical advantage in money, but Donald Trump has the Dilley meme team.” According to Dilley, one of the members of his “meme team” was “having a private conversation with somebody that I would say many people consider one of the most probably respectable minds in all of politics,” and that this person made this claim about Biden and Trump “to a group of megadonors.” [The Dilley Show, 5/9/24]

Dilley has called for his followers and “meme team” to aid Trump and Lake, including targeting their political opponents with “psychological warfare”

  • Dilley took credit for getting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to drop out of the 2024 GOP presidential primary race, saying the “massive effort of psy-oping their insecurities and what they really were completely toppled the entire organization.” Dilley claimed, “We utilized massive psychological warfare on DeSantis via shame and insecurity, relentlessly so.” He added, “This is unfortunately what it will take to win. That is the level of savagery you must have. You must view everybody who is opposing Donald Trump and the America First agenda as opposing America itself. This is how we toppled them.” [Media Matters, 3/19/24]
  • Dilley called for “a fucking army of poll watchers at all of the critical precincts in the swing states.” [The Dilley Show, 1/25/24]
  • In a tirade filled with misogynistic slurs, Dilley threatened to target then-presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s friends and family as long as she stayed in the GOP primary race against Trump. Dilley said that since Haley had yet to drop out of the race at that point, “the Dilley meme team has decided to make you, your family, your friends, your coworkers, and every single individual as even remotely associated with you a political target henceforth.” Specifically, Dilley said he hoped that “every single person who’s ever fucking called you, emailed you, or shaked your goddamn hand is used to having public scrutiny via meme and fucking song and deep dives and everything in between,” adding that “every picture your son has ever posted, every fucking comment he's ever made in every forum, is going to be unearthed.” He also threatened to “dig into all your daughter's comments, all of the pictures, all of her associations, her ex-boyfriends, her fucking ex-girlfriends. We’re going to dig into all of your employees. We'll dig into all of their employees. We’ll dig into your lovers.” [The Dilley Show, 2/20/24]
  • Dilley directed his “meme team” to target Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who is running against Kari Lake for U.S. Senate in Arizona, and Dilley used homophobic rhetoric and called the Democrat “an actual commie-carrying member and a cartel fucking mouthpiece.” Repeatedly mispronouncing the congressman’s name, Dilley said he was “going to turn the Dilley meme team loose on Gallegos” and “we’re going to start churning out content for Kari Lake,” adding that “we’re going to go heavy on Gallegos. ... I told that little fucker last night. I was like, ‘Hey. I’m going to ruin your fucking life.’” He also said, “Gallegos is a priority right now, and the meme team is turning their attention to him right now as we speak,” explaining that “the plan is to destroy this motherfucker.” Dilley went on to credit his “meme team” for “jumping in that fight and sharing so much great content” for Lake, saying her campaign is supposedly “gaining momentum every single day.” [The Dilley Show, 4/4/24, 4/22/24]
  • Dilley told his followers to take memes from his “meme team” and “be saturating the replies” of “leftist accounts” with them. Dilley said, “I care about all of these leftist accounts being inundated with memes that are relevant and pushing back against their argument,” adding, “Soon as you see the comments, you see the Biden HQ account, you see Gallego, any of these leftist accounts, you need to be saturating the replies.” [The Dilley Show, 4/18/24]
  • Dilley also instructed his followers to “hijack” hashtags and spread memes and videos during the June 27 presidential debate between Biden and Trump. Dilley said, “We want to hijack that hashtag as we always do. Whatever the top three hashtags are for the debate, we want to own them.” He added that “all I want you doing is retweeting all of those videos. So we’re going to be working that shit, dropping the videos, pushing back, and showing the truth about Joe Biden’s lies. We're also going to be pushing pro-Trump content.” [The Dilley Show, 6/24/24, 6/25/24, 6/26/24]

Dilley has repeatedly spread extreme misogyny on his show

  • Dilley has repeatedly used the word “bitch” to describe women across the political spectrum. The women whom Dilley has called a “bitch” include Florida first lady Casey DeSantis, former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), actress Amy Poehler, key QAnon promoter Tracy “Beanz” Diaz, MSNBC co-host Mika Brzezinski, conservative commentator Candace Owens, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate Nicole Shanahan, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), and columnist E. Jean Carroll. [The Dilley Show, 1/11/24, 1/22/24, 1/24/24, 1/25/24, 1/26/24, 2/8/24, 2/22/24, 2/27/24, 3/11/24, 3/18/24, 3/22/24, 3/27/24, 4/29/24, 6/19/24]
  • Dilley claimed that former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis was fat and “real, real slutty.” Dilley said that Ellis was “real, real slutty,” calling her a “real big girl” and “big bitch” who “wore a dress over the summer” and “made it look like a fucking giant bottle of Pepto Bismol.” [The Dilley Show, 1/31/24]
  • Dilley claimed that weddings often featured “the slut that wants to fuck half the fucking audience.” Dilley also referred to the maid of honor as the “best bitch” who “secretly wants to fuck your husband.” [The Dilley Show, 2/2/24]
  • Dilley: “I hope everything goes back to the 1950s” when “women could focus on their pretty dresses and their house and their children and making me sexually satisfied all the time, and food.” Dilley added that he would tell women, “You don't worry your pretty head about those politics” and that “that’s a man's problem,” adding that instead “I’ll let you know who to vote for” and that “what you need to concern yourself with is how come the floors in the kitchen aren’t as shiny as they were two weeks ago.” [The Dilley Show, 2/8/24]
  • Dilley: “Americans don't want to vote for a bitch,” and “a bitch with the fucking red button on the nukes” is “dangerous.” In a rant he admitted would “sound misogynistic” after calling then-presidential candidate Nikki Haley “kind of a slut,” Dilley argued that “we know in our deepest biology that a bitch with the fucking red button on the nukes is dangerous” and that “we all kind of inherently know there are certain kinds of women we must avoid at all cost giving them power,” calling it “herd protection.” He also argued that that was “why we give them like as much power as we can in the house” but “why women don’t get control of anything outside of the house” and “the closer we get to other humans, the less control my wife should have.” During an appearance on the Matt Kim Podcast on YouTube the next month, Dilley lauded a voter who said she would not vote for Haley because she was “probably menopausal,” with Dilley saying that the voter meant to say that “the bitch is menopausal most likely, and we don’t need that as a president.” [The Dilley Show, 2/12/24; Matt Kim Podcast, 3/5/24]
  • Dilley complained that Super Bowl advertisements did not feature “fuckable women.” During a rant about Super Bowl LVIII commercials, Dilley claimed that the “elites” put a “moratorium on new fame,” and that it meant that Super Bowl ads featured “bitch” pop star Taylor Swift, fellow pop star Madonna was “still gyrating her vagina,” and fellow pop star Cher’s “new pussy” is “only, like, 15.” He also claimed, “They don’t put these bitches out to pasture, and now we all have to see them half-naked on a fucking magazine cover at 65 years old,” and that, “They’re not even trying to sell you sex anymore with, like, fuckable women.” [The Dilley Show, 2/12/24]
  • Dilley claimed former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin was a “frail, worn out piece of ass.” While criticizing Alex Soros, the son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, for reportedly dating Abedin, Dilley also called Abedin the “leftovers” and “sloppy seconds” of her ex-husband, former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). [The Dilley Show, 2/15/24]
  • Dilley claimed that “God hates” Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis “because he made her fat” while having small breasts. Added Dilley, “Put on all that weight and not even go up a cup size? … That is just brutal.” He has also claimed that Willis “might be the dumbest whore to ever have graduated a law school.” [The Dilley Show, 2/16/24, 3/12/24]
  • Dilley called Meghan McCain “fat fuck Miss Piggy” and accused Cindy McCain of being a “whore.” After Meghan McCain rebuffed Kari Lake’s supposed “olive branch” following her criticism of McCain’s father, the late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Dilley called McCain “one of the ugliest, fattest women in America,” and claimed that her mother, World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain, “is a whore, OK? She’s a child-trafficking whore.” He alleged, without evidence, that a member of his “meme team” saw Cindy McCain cheating on John McCain, and accused John McCain of being “a traitor to this country.” [HuffPost, 2/21/24; The Dilley Show, 2/22/24]
  • Dilley complained that a newly crowned Iranian-born Miss Germany was “this fucking busted piece of Iranian ass” instead of “the perfect fucking Aryan woman” he said the country used to have. Dilley complained that a woman who was born in Iran and moved to Germany when she was six had been crowned Miss Germany, arguing that she does not “even look German.” He contrasted this to how, he said, Germany “used to technologically, scientifically fucking create their women. They were all 5 foot 8 with fucking blonde hair, blue eyes, huge tits, and fucking 24-inch waists.” [Euronews, 2/27/24; The Dilley Show, 2/26/24]
  • Dilley claimed that any woman who has earned a law degree only did so because she is “a leftist whore.” Added Dilley, “They just hand these out to leftist whores. You’re not actually smart.” He also argued, “If you gave me one week to prepare a case or debate of some kind against any woman who graduated with a law degree in the last eight years, I could beat them. Anyone. Every single one. Because I’ve seen enough now to know that they’re fucking retarded.” [The Dilley Show, 3/5/24, 3/5/24]
  • Dilley claimed that Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has “a fat face, but she got some big ass dick-sucking lips.” While discussing the Supreme Court ruling to keep Trump on the ballot in Colorado, Dilley also called her a “stupid bitch” who was “one of the dumbest whores we’ve ever had” before the Supreme Court. [The Dilley Show, 3/5/24, 3/5/24]
  • Dilley claimed that women managers in the workplace realize that they should hire “only guys for this job.” He argued that women working meant female managers “have to police a bunch of cunts all day long at [their] job because then they force [them] to hire other women.” [The Dilley Show, 3/21/24]
  • Dilley called Vice President Kamala Harris a “dirty bitch” and baselessly claimed that she “suck[ed] dick to become the vice president.” [The Dilley Show, 3/25/24]
  • Dilley on pop singer Lizzo: “You can be a fat fuck singer and no one will make fun of you. But if you’re a fat fuck singer who tells everybody you're hot as shit and then proceeds to show everybody your giant 600-pound ass, that’s when people get upset.” Dilley was responding to Lizzo’s announcement on social media that she would step back from the public spotlight after being attacked for singing at a Biden fundraiser. Dilley added, “This should have happened years ago, fucking years ago, but better late than never,” and took credit for Lizzo’s announcement, remarking that “apparently the Dilley meme team’s leading the charge” against her. [HuffPost, 3/30/24; The Dilley Show, 4/1/24]
  • Dilley has repeatedly discussed and mocked House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and climate activist Greta Thunberg’s breasts. Dilley accused Thunberg of having undergone breast augmentation surgery and claimed she was therefore a hypocrite regarding climate change. [The Dilley Show, 4/4/24, 4/8/24]
  • Dilley claimed former CNN anchor Poppy Harlow had a “sloppy, slutty kind of look to her.” Discussing the announcement that Harlow would be leaving CNN, Dilley said Harlow looked “kind of stacked” and that “she looks like Stormy Daniels kind of; kind of got that, like, sloppy, slutty kind of look to her.” He also speculated that she could join Fox News “if she’s going to show her fun bags.” [The Dilley Show, 4/26/24]
  • Dilley claimed that “total bitch” CNN anchor Kasie Hunt’s hair would be a “rape deterrent.” Dilley claimed that Hunt is a “total cunt” and has a “stupid mini fridge head” that makes her look like “a homeless transgender” person who is “battling some kind of a Down syndrome situation.” He also claimed that her hair could serve as a “fucking rape deterrent in New York City … so migrants won’t touch her.” [The Dilley Show, 6/24/24]

Dilley has made racist, anti-immigrant, bigoted, and antisemitic comments on his show

  • Dilley has more than once invoked the racist and antisemitic “great replacement” conspiracy theory. Dilley has claimed, “They’re replacing you right now with a bunch of fucking illegals from south of the border. At every turn, they’re going to replace you,” and said of Black voters, “Your voting bloc has been replaced by illegal invaders.” The claim echoes the white nationalist conspiracy theory known as the “great replacement,” which posits that nonwhite people are replacing white people in the United States and other predominantly white countries, specifically through immigration. [Media Matters, 1/12/24; The Dilley Show, 1/22/24, 2/5/24]
  • Dilley claimed if women vote for Democrats it will “no doubtably result in them getting raped at some point in 2025 by an illegal immigrant or some migrant from a foreign land or some criminal” who was let out after repeat offenses. [The Dilley Show, 1/19/24]
  • In response to a predicted influx in Florida of Haitian migrants fleeing political instability, Dilley claimed that Floridians were “about to have cannibal Haitians showing up in your yard.” [Tampa Bay Times, 4/14/24; The Dilley Show, 3/14/24]
  • Dilley called Minnesota “frozen Somalia.” Dilley asked, “Why would anybody in their right fucking mind move to frozen Somalia?” [The Dilley Show, 3/19/24]
  • Dilley said Jews who support Democrats are “voting for your own destruction.” [The Dilley Show, 4/10/24]
  • Dilley falsely claimed that George Floyd was “a felon overdosing underneath a cop’s leg.” According to The Associated Press: “The county medical examiner’s office ruled Floyd’s death a homicide due to ‘cardiopulmonary arrest,’ not an overdose, even though he had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system.” [The Associated Press, 10/21/22; The Dilley Show, 4/11/24]
  • Dilley said “DEI hires” are OK in retail, but “you used DEI to choose a Supreme Court justice,” mentioning Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. [The Dilley Show, 4/25/24]
  • Dilley said that “England is way more fucking Muslim now” and that “jihadis” are “taking control of these cities and the government.” While praising an action from the British government, Dilley speculated that it was “not being caused by Judeo-Christians living in England with Western values” and instead was “more likely … caused by the highly influential Muslim community,” calling it a “slippery slope.” [The Dilley Show, 5/16/24]

Dilley has repeatedly made anti-LGBTQ remarks and used hateful slurs on his show

  • Dilley bragged that “we brought back the word f–––––,” and he has repeatedly used the anti-LGBTQ slur to describe people and things he opposes, including philanthropist George Soros’ son Alex. Dilley has also repeatedly called things “gay” and “queer” derogatorily. [The Dilley Show, 12/28/23, 2/1/24, 4/10/24, 4/15/24, 4/26/24, 5/9/24]
  • Dilley lauded a mixed martial artist who claimed that being transgender used to be “a mental fucking illness” and that “the world’s not saying … chicks have dicks.” Dilley said that MMA fighter Sean Strickland was “delivering knockouts inside and outside the octagon” with his anti-LGBTQ rant and claimed that transgender people were the “fucking deranged chicks with dicks t––––– community.” [TheWrap, 1/18/24; The Dilley Show, 1/18/24]
  • Dilley claimed that transgender people were “fucked in the head” and that “we tried to tell you that and you told us we were being bigoted.” Dilley said this in response to the unsubstantiated claim that a shooting at a Texas church had been carried out by a transgender person. [The Associated Press, 2/13/24; The Dilley Show, 2/12/24]
  • Dilley complained about “LGBTQ bullshit” at Disney. Dilley made the remark in response to a poll supposedly showing that most Americans opposed “Disney’s gay ‘inclusion’ agenda.” [The Dilley Show, 5/6/24]
  • Dilley suggested that “gay butt sex” and “homoerotica” were “degeneracy.” He also claimed that Democrats “decided to do all kinds of weird shit to their bodies, moving things around, changing genders, and sucking each other off.” [The Dilley Show, 5/8/24]
  • Dilley claimed that “they give you a whole month” if “you put your penis in another dude’s butt” or “if you’re a chick with a dick.” [The Dilley Show, 5/14/24]
  • Dilley claimed that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was hired because “she’s Black and she eats pussy.” He also claimed that she was asked in a job interview for the position, “Are you a t–––––?” [The Dilley Show, 5/14/24]
  • Dilley called anti-LGBTQ laws “a very good thing” and “good news.” Dilley praised a new Mississippi law requiring people at public schools to use facilities corresponding to their gender assigned at birth and guidance from the United Kingdom’s conservative government telling schools in England not to teach about gender identity. [CNN, 5/14/24; BBC, 5/16/24; The Dilley Show, 5/16/24]
  • Dilley appeared to call for violence against — and for court martialing — a person in the military who he alleges is married to a transgender woman who was crowned Miss Maryland. After a transgender woman won Miss Maryland, Dilley complained about a “woke marine who’s married to a fucking dude that just won Miss Maryland,” asking, “How the hell was that guy not beat with a sack of oranges by other marines?” He added, “If I was in your group and you married a fucking cross-dressing shim … I would beat you with oranges while you slept.” He also called for the person to be “court martial[ed] … right now” due to their marriage. [The Baltimore Banner, 6/7/24; The Dilley Show, 6/7/24]

On his show, Dilley has used threatening rhetoric against certain figures he opposes

  • Dilley threatened to “punish that bitch” Taylor Swift if she made the “wrong choice” and endorsed Biden. Said Dilley, “As long as Taylor Swift remains — we’ll call it a free agent — we will behave a certain way. The second she makes … the wrong choice, it is absolutely incumbent upon us to punish that bitch for … doing that.” [The Dilley Show, 1/30/24]
  • Dilley called for “asymmetrical warfare” against a Georgia judge and his family after his ruling in Trump’s Fulton County case. After Fulton County, Georgia, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled against disqualifying Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting Trump and his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference and racketeering case, Dilley slammed the ruling, saying, “You see him in public, you mock him. You see him online, you mock him. You see his sister online, his mom online, his brother, his wife, his fucking kids. Doesn’t matter … Asymmetrical warfare. That’s how you do it. You wanna fucking condemn the nation? We will condemn your fucking entire lineage.” [Media Matters, 3/19/24]
  • Dilley called for pro-Palestinan college protesters to be “curb stomp[ed].” Added Dilley, “I hope they literally jackboot thug the shit out of you because you are not protesting. This is not — this is not what the First Amendment is about.” [The Dilley Show, 5/1/24]
  • In response to Trump’s criminal conviction in New York, Dilley called for “the fucking destruction of every motherfucker that had their hands involved in this entire bullshit collapse of this country.” Of the possibility that “cities will burn” if that happens, Dilley said, “I don’t give a fuck. I don’t give a fuck. Blind justice must return.” [The Dilley Show, 5/31/24]
  • Dilley called for people in the DOJ and FBI who he claimed “committed treason” against Trump to “be thrown in prison.” Dilley, addressing “FBI agents who overthrew the government,” said, “You should have everything you fucking ever earned taken from you also. Your pension should have to be paid back, your retirement funds should cease immediately, your assets should be seized, and, yes, you should be thrown in prison.” He added, “This country would be so much safer if the majority of these corrupt FBI cunts were behind bars.” [The Dilley Show, 6/6/24]
  • Dilley called for “every bad thing that’s possible to happen to” Dr. Anthony Fauci. He added that he wanted “everything that he [Fauci] ever loved to be gone” and that a “jail cell wouldn’t be enough for that guy.” Dilley also claimed that “anybody with Fauci blood fucking coursing through their veins is inherently going to have some type of evil in them” and expressed hope that Fauci’s “entire lineage” would be “gone.” [The Dilley Show, 6/19/24]

Dilley has spread false claims and conspiracy theories about those he opposes

  • Dilley claimed without evidence that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s voice condition is due to drug use. Dilley claimed that Kennedy had a “destroyed voice box from crystal meth.” In reality, Kennedy’s voice is caused by a neurological condition called spasmodic dysphonia. [Business Insider, 8/17/23; The Dilley Show, 2/28/24]
  • Dilley falsely claimed that former President Barack Obama is “a Kenyan” and “the former terrorist in chief.” Dilley also implied that Obama — who was born in Hawaii and is an American citizen — was involved with “bring[ing] the violent people here to the United States of America and let[ting] them do their violence on our college campuses.” [The Dilley Show, 4/23/24, 5/1/24]
  • Dilley baselessly suggested that Hillary Clinton’s “homebrew server” could have contributed to the Baltimore port bridge crash. Said Dilley, “Do I think Hillary had anything to do with terrorists attacking the ship and making it crash? Probably not, but the dumb cunt did have a homebrew server where she was giving away military secrets via the Chinese hacking her shit because it was open completely. So I’m not saying they did it, but I’m saying they could.” In reality, the crash appears to have been caused by multiple power outage issues on the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge. [The Associated Press, 5/14/24; The Dilley Show, 3/26/24]
  • Dilley falsely claimed that journalists who wanted to speak with him were “all vaxxed” and “shedding” the “poison … jab you took.” Said Dilley, “They’re all vaxxed and shit spreading their fucking God-knows-what. Like, no. You’re not fucking shedding in my house. You’re not shedding — you’re not fucking shedding those poison fucking jab you took. No.” In reality, COVID vaccines are safe and people who got them do not “shed” from them and harm others. [Reuters, 4/23/21; The Dilley Show, 5/15/24]
  • Dilley invoked a baseless anti-trans conspiracy theory about Michelle Obama and falsely claimed Jill Biden had a relationship with Joe Biden while working as a babysitter for him. Dilley called former first lady Michelle Obama “big Mike Obama” — an apparent reference to a baseless conspiracy theory asserting that she is transgender. In the same episode, Dilley also falsely claimed that first lady Jill Biden “was the babysitter that Joe was fucking when his family died”; in reality, Jill Biden met and began dating Joe Biden a few years after his first wife’s death. [PolitiFact, 2/28/23, 3/14/23; Reuters, 1/27/21; The Dilley Show, 5/30/24]
  • Dilley baselessly claimed that “like 1% of teachers … are actually quality and the rest are complete fucking batshit crazy communists.” Added Dilley, “There’s a reason I’ve hated them since I was a child.” [The Dilley Show, 5/30/24]Dilley baselessly accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of being a “serial killer.” [The Dilley Show, 6/3/24]

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Trump Has Promoted QAnon Cult Over 800 Times On Truth Social

Trump Has Promoted QAnon Cult Over 800 Times On Truth Social

Former President Donald Trump has amplified QAnon-promoting accounts over 800 times during his first two years of actively posting on his social media platform Truth Social, according to a Media Matters review.

In our review, we deemed Truth Social accounts “QAnon-promoting accounts” if they explicitly promoted the conspiracy theory by sharing affiliated slogans, posts from QAnon’s central figure “Q,” or imagery related to the conspiracy theory. We counted reposting or quoting a post as amplifying it.

This activity marks a stark increase for the former president, who previously boosted promoters of the conspiracy theory on Twitter (now X) during his presidency. From 2017 until his account was suspended on January 8, 2021, Trump amplified QAnon-promoting accounts on that platform more than 300 times, and he also praised the QAnon community multiple times.

Months after Trump left office, and after the hosts of a QAnon show received press credentials for a Trump rally, Politico reported that associates of Trump would try to “weed out any QAnon influences — both adherents and postings — getting close to him.”

Yet between April 28, 2022 — when Trump began actively posting on Truth Social — and April 28, 2023, Trump amplified QAnon-promoting accounts on Truth Social nearly 500 times. In some cases, he promoted explicit QAnon content.

That trend continued during Trump’s second year of actively posting on the platform: A Media Matters review found that between April 29, 2023, and April 29, 2024, Trump amplified QAnon-promoting accounts nearly 350 times, raising his total to over 800 times overall. Those second-year amplifications also included some explicit QAnon content.

The activity from Trump, who helped create Truth Social following his ban from Twitter after the January 6 insurrection, fits with an analysis from The Washington Post, which found that Trump posts on the platform “29 times a day on average, far more than he tweeted during his first campaign and most of his presidency,” that he is “more likely to write in all caps,” and that his posts frequently “contained insulting language directed at someone.” The Post also found that the former president’s feed “is packed with links to right-wing news sites and conservative influencers,” which differs from his previous Twitter activity of linking “to a mix of mainstream and partisan sources.”

Among Trump’s over 800 amplifications of QAnon-promoting accounts on Truth Social, he specifically:

  • Amplified at least 6 posts from QAnon-promoting accounts that featured text from Q posts. That includes 1 video that also included 9/11 Trutherism, and 1 post that also mentioned the letter “P,” which has been invoked in multiple Q posts in reference to supposedly nefarious figures.
  • Amplified at least 33 posts that featured the letter “Q” in their text or image; the QAnon slogan, “where we go one, we go all” (or “WWG1WGA” for short); the QAnon phrase “nothing can stop what is coming” (or “NCSWIC” for short); or “Q+,” a term some QAnon supporters use to refer to Trump himself. Twenty of these came during his first year of actively posting on the platform, and 13 in the second.
  • Amplified more than 170 individual QAnon-promoting accounts.
  • Amplified 1 post from a QAnon-promoting account which linked to a Rumble video that showed a Q post, with Trump calling it an “incredible video!”
  • Amplified 2 posts from QAnon-promoting accounts featuring a video that included the QAnon slogan.
  • Amplified 1 post from a QAnon-promoting account with the phrase “Do it, Q!” Some QAnon supporters claim that a photo from a Trump tweet had that phrase in its source code.
  • Amplified 1 post from a QAnon-promoting account that was originally posted in a Truth Social group dedicated to the conspiracy theory.
  • Amplified 2 posts from an account named after the QAnon slogan. He has also amplified 4 posts from an account whose handle is the QAnon slogan.
  • Amplified “Patri0tsareinContr0l,” who has pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory and has been a member of a known QAnon influencer collective.

This activity comes as Truth Social’s leadership has actively courted QAnon supporters to the platform, and the former president and his allies have associated with and appealed to the QAnon community in other ways. For instance, former Trump administration official and Truth Social board member Kash Patel said that “we try to incorporate” QAnon “into our overall messaging scheme to capture audiences.” The former president has also been photographed with multiple QAnon figures, and his campaign has given QAnon figures press passes for his events, while denying some mainstream journalists. Trump has also used a song associated with QAnon on social media and at his rallies.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Trump Appeared At Mar-a-Lago Event Promoting QAnon 'Documentary' Films

Trump Appeared At Mar-a-Lago Event Promoting QAnon 'Documentary' Films

Former President Donald Trump appeared onstage at a Mar-a-Lago event with filmmaker and QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Smith and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The film screened at the event, which was hosted by Flynn’s America’s Future, was the sequel to Smith’s film that pushed the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory.

On March 28, America’s Future — a group run by Flynn and his family which has become increasingly tied to QAnon, with multiple QAnon figures including Liz Crokin being involved with the organization — hosted Smith at Mar-a-Lago. (Flynn himself is tied to the conspiracy theory and to We The Media, a QAnon influencer collective.) According to the event flier, the event would have “special movie screenings of Out of Shadows and Into the Light -- masterpiece films rocking the world with the truth about how information deception, psyops, and mind manipulation are used to control reality.” However, according to Smith, only Into the Light was ultimately screened.

During the event, Trump appeared on stage with Smith and Flynn, with Trump shaking their hands and going on to laud Flynn, according to video uploaded by attendee Ben Moore, who is a member of America’s Future and a QAnon influencer known online as “Sun Tzu.”

In addition to Smith, Flynn, and Moore, fellow America’s Future members Crokin and Lara Logan were also in attendance at the event (like Smith and Crokin, Logan is also a Pizzagate conspiracy theorist and has sympathized with QAnon).

Smith, a former Hollywood stuntman, became known in 2020 when his YouTube film Out of Shadowsquickly racked up millions of views, and he has since expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, repeatedly posting variations of the QAnon slogan (“where we go one, we go all,” or “WWG1WGA”), thanking the “Q team,” and even becoming a member of We The Media.

The film Out of Shadows “alleges, among other things, that Hollywood is run by Satanic pedophilia rings” and pushes the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory, with Crokin baselessly claiming during the film that a D.C. pizzeria was part of a child trafficking ring. Smith has credited Crokin for getting him into Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory which inspired a man to open fire in the restaurant in December 2016.

Into the Light, which was screened at Mar-a-Lago, is the sequel to Out of Shadows and is described as “a movie made to bring to surface that psychological operations are present and active in today’s society.” The film features interviews with Flynn, Logan, and others, and pushes conspiracy theories about the World Economic Forum and the “great reset.”

Trump’s appearance at a Mar-a-Lago event tied to QAnon and Pizzagate comes after the former president previously appeared at a December 2022 America’s Future event at his property that also featured Crokin pushing Pizzagate, where Trump was photographed with her. It is also yet another example of Trump’s relationship with the QAnon community, which he and those in his orbit have increasingly embraced.

The article has been updated to reflect that Mike Smith claims only Into the Light was screened, despite the event’s flier indicating that both of his films would be shown at Mar-a-Lago.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Leaked Video Shows Mike Flynn On Zoom Call Praising QAnon Figures

Leaked Video Shows Mike Flynn On Zoom Call Praising QAnon Figures

A QAnon influencer has leaked footage of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn participating in a Zoom call in 2022 with a group of QAnon figures, wishing one of them a happy birthday, saying “I love you guys,” and being told, “You have no idea how much you are respected and loved and admired by your digital soldiers.”

The footage, released on X (formerly Twitter) on January 11 by a QAnon influencer known online as “The Authority,” shows Flynn dropping in on a call with members of a QAnon influencer collective known as We The Media. “The Authority” — a former member of the group who has since turned against both the collective and Flynn — wrote that he released the footage to show that Flynn “knows many members of We The Media.”

While a QAnon influencer and We The Media member Scott Zimmerman (known online as “Beer at the Parade”) previously mentioned that Flynn joined the Zoom call, no footage appears to have been made public before. According to Zimmerman, Flynn “knew daggone near everybody in the room,” which was proof that “the people that really matter” know We The Media.

During the Zoom call, Flynn wished Zimmerman a happy birthday. In response, the QAnon influencer told Flynn that “you have no idea how much you are respected and loved and admired by your digital soldiers” — a term popularized by Flynn and embraced by QAnon supporters to refer to themselves — and said he had a license plate with the words “we go all,” seemingly referring to the QAnon slogan “where we go one, we go all.” On the call, QAnon influencer “AbsoluteConviction” also thanked Flynn “for your support and everything you’ve done for us.” In turn, Flynn told the participants on the call that “I love you guys” and “even though we … may never physically meet, we have to meet virtually constantly.”

MICHAEL FLYNN (FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER): And I just want to wish you a happy birthday. You know, 60 is the new 20.

SCOTT ZIMMERMAN (QANON INFLUENCER): Alright, Gen. Flynn, if I may close out, you have no idea how much you are respected and loved and admired by your digital soldiers.

…

FLYNN: I mean, we are going to win because we have — you know, even though we may not — may never physically meet, we have to meet virtually constantly. And we have to bombard. I mean, that’s our — that’s our ammunition, that’s our weapons system, right?

…

“ABSOLUTECONVICTION” (QANON INFLUENCER): First, Scott, happy 60th birthday to you, man. You’ve been such an inspiration to me. … Mrs. Beer, thank you for supporting this man, who has supported so many digital soldiers along the way. Thank you to all my We The Media friends and Gen. Flynn, thank you for your support and everything you’ve done for us and the fight you carry on for this country. It means more to us than we could ever explain.

…

FLYNN: I love you guys.

…

ZIMMERMAN: Gen. Flynn, my license plate reads “we go all.”

Flynn’s appearance on the Zoom call is part of his wider embrace of the QAnon movement, including invoking the QAnon slogan, associating with multiple QAnon figures, and relying on the community for fundraising.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

GOP's Debate Streaming Site Features 'Lizard People' Conspiracy Theory

GOP's Debate Streaming Site Features 'Lizard People' Conspiracy Theory

Rumble, an extreme right-wing video-sharing platform that has been the official streaming site of the 2024 Republican presidential primary debates, on December 4 listed as one of its “editor picks” a video featuring a conspiracy theory about supposed “lizard people” controlling the world.

The lizard people conspiracy theory, also known as the reptilian conspiracy theory, was popularized by infamous conspiracy theorist David Icke. Business Insider highlighted the likely antisemitic background of the concept, noting that Icke’s written commentary about the conspiracy theory is “clearly evocative of the centuries-old blood-libel conspiracy theory, which alleged that a cabal of Jews were controlling the world and drinking the blood of Christian children.” The lizard people conspiracy theory has also been tied to multiple violent incidents, including a man who killed his brother with a sword in 2019 and a man who exploded his recreational vehicle in downtown Nashville in 2020.

Rumble’s “editor picks” section is apparently curated to highlight specific videos available on the platform. A video titled “Lizard Climate Scam ReeEEeE Stream 12-03-23” was featured in Rumble’s “editor picks” section on December 4. The video was posted by “TheSaltyCracker,” who has amplified conspiracy theories and harmful rhetoric before. The thumbnail features an image of King Charles III with a long cartoon tongue sticking out, seemingly a reference to the conspiracy theory about lizard people.

During the video, “TheSaltyCracker” criticized attendees of COP28, the United Nations' annual climate summit, saying that “you just saw all these lizard people fly in to Munich, Germany, on private jets screaming about … climate change. They don’t care about climate change. It’s a scam.”

“THESALTYCRACKER”: But look the hell around. These people lied about everything. Lied about everything. They tell you about the polar bears, the polar ice. They say, “No, go out there and take a bunch of experimental vaccines. Everything's going to be totally fine.” Nope. I’m good. I’m good. Also, don't worry about all the stabbings. I’m worried about all the stabbings. There’s a lot of stabbings popping off lately. I’ve worried about a wide open border. “No, there’s no such thing as an open border.”

These fucking people are lying about everything. Everything they tell you to not be worried about, be worried about. Everything they tell you to be worried about, it’s a fucking scam. It’s a total scam. You just saw all these lizard people fly in to Munich, Germany, on private jets screaming about [unintelligible] climate change. They don’t care about climate change. It’s a scam. It’s a straight up scam.

He also criticized King Charles III for calling for action to address climate change in a speech at the summit, claiming that he has “tiny lizard balls.”

“TheSaltyCracker” also attacked former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) for her criticism of former President Donald Trump, claiming that “every single apparatus of lizard person fucking monstrosities are throwing everything that they got against Donald Trump.”

“THESALTYCRACKER”: By the way, you were on the receiving end of this, you dumb cow, you Miss Piggy-looking son of a bitch. We told you. We don’t give a fuck. We don’t care who hates Donald Trump. We don’t care who likes Donald Trump. We just understand that every single apparatus of lizard person fucking monstrosities are throwing everything that they got against Donald Trump. Everything. Everything. This corrupt fucking judicial system, the kid-fuckers in Hollywood, the dipshits on the sports ball fields, everybody. Everything’s against my dude, everything.

He also claimed that Cheney was “the fucking spawn of a lizard person war criminal,” referring to her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Rumble has previously featured videos as “editor picks” that were dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory, 9/11 trutherism, and a claim that an August mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, was a false flag.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Donald Trump Jr.

Don Jr. Praises White Nationalist: 'My Favorite Twitter Account Of All Time'

Donald Trump Jr. interviewed antisemitic white nationalist Douglass Mackey — who was recently convicted of election interference during the 2016 presidential election — on the December 7 episode of his Rumble podcast, Triggered with Donald Trump Jr., and said that Mackey’s suspended “Ricky Vaughn” Twitter account “may be my favorite Twitter account of all time.” Trump Jr. also suggested that he may have been in contact with Mackey in 2016.

During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Mackey had a Twitter account under the name “Ricky Vaughn.” HuffPost revealed his real name in 2018 and reported that the account was known for spreading “anti-Semitism and white nationalism,” such as using the antisemitic “echo” and tweeting that Jews had “control of the media” and were broadcasting “antiwhite messaging” in the mid-1900s. HuffPost also reported that Mackey had appeared on “numerous white supremacist podcasts.” Mackey has also reportedly spoken of his support for creating all-white communities and said he shuns interracial marriages “to maintain our unique culture and racial heritage,” and he has promoted Islamaphobic and anti-migrant content.

In October, Mackey was sentenced to seven months in prison for “spreading falsehoods via Twitter … in an effort to suppress Democratic turnout in the 2016 presidential election,” specifically by falsely posting that it was possible to vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton by texting or posting on social media. (Trump Jr. indicated on his podcast that Mackey is appealing the decision.)

During the December 7 interview, Trump Jr. described Mackey as an “original MAGA meme lord” and misleadingly claimed that Mackey’s prosecution and conviction was “literally over a meme from 2016” (a claim other right-wing media figures have also made; in reality, the Department of Justice said that thousands of people tried to vote by texting to the number he distributed). While introducing Mackey, Trump Jr. also said that “we’ve probably gone back and forth on Twitter back in the old days and DMs.”

DONALD TRUMP JR. (HOST): And with that, guys, joining us now is Doug Mackey. Again, if you guys were in the meme wars, like, early adapters like me back in 2015 and ’16, you’ll know him as Ricky Vaughn. But Doug, for the people watching — and it’s great to have you. You know, I know — we’ve probably gone back and forth on Twitter back in the old days and DMs, and I’m sure we were put on lists way back then. But for the people watching, can you explain what happened here? I mean, you literally ran a Twitter account named Ricky Vaughn. And you got charged for posting a meme. What’s going on?

Later in the interview, Trump Jr. told Mackey that his Ricky Vaughn account was “awesome” and “may be my favorite Twitter account of all time” and “maybe the best of all time.” (Trump Jr. also lauded Mackey on Tim Pool’s show earlier this year.)

DONALD TRUMP JR. (HOST): But, hey, you had an awesome account. It may be my favorite Twitter account of all time. Now I’ll get in trouble for saying that because they’ll say, oh, he said something once that you must disavow. Like, it was hilarious, OK? Like, again, like I said, maybe the best of all time, but how’d you get into the idea of that account? How were you able to grow such a large following that put you on the radar of these people?

Trump Jr. also helped Mackey promote his legal defense fund, asking, “How much funds do you need to get through that next level if in fact you need to take it to the Supreme Court?” An on-screen graphic also told viewers to go to the defense fund’s site to donate. Trump Jr. ended the interview by thanking Mackey for “all of the entertainment over the years.”

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk Praises Antisemitic 'Replacement' Theory As 'The Truth'

Ever in search of a new low, Elon Musk managed to find one on November 15 when he declared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that a paid X Premium (previously Twitter Blue) user’s antisemitic conspiracy theory attacking Jewish people was the “actual truth.”

The antisemitic post Musk endorsed came in response to a user writing, “To the cowards hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and posting 'Hitler was right': You got something you want to say? Why don't you say it to our faces…”

The conspiracy theory, that Jewish populations are pushing “hatred against whites” and supporting “hordes of minorities” coming into the country, is the same one that motivated the 2018 Tree of Life shooter in Pittsburgh, as noted by The Atlantic’s Yair Rosenberg. Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and other figures linked to white nationalism are cheering on Musk.

The Tree of Life shooter, who was found guilty this year, wrote on far-right platform Gab that he blamed Jewish people in the U.S. “for bringing in an invasion of nonwhite immigrants.” (Gab owner Andrew Torba is also one of the people cheering on Musk; Gab’s X account even bragged about red-pilling Musk on “JQ” – that is, the “Jewish question.”)

How did we get from a mass shooter writing something on a platform that most people have never visited to Musk endorsing it? First, Musk himself has rebuilt X around extremists like this, making a concentrated effort to lift up extremism, even providing financial incentives.

Musk’s platform, ostensibly run by CEO Linda Yaccarino, has said that posts claiming “Hitler was right” and that there needs to be a “final solution” regarding Jewish people don’t violate the platform’s “safety policies”; run ads for major brands on Holocaust denial accounts; and apparently paid a pro-Hitler Holocaust denier a share of its ad revenue.

Indeed, Musk and Yaccarino have reinstated known white nationalists and antisemites on the platform. Musk has directly engaged with some of the reinstated antisemitic accounts and amplified conspiracy theories that were used to push antisemitism. Musk’s posts earlier this year earned the praise of a leading neo-Nazi.

Don't overlook the role of Fox News here

But the true middleman between the Tree of Life shooter in 2018 and the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is Fox News — and specifically Lachlan Murdoch.

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, a Fox guest railed against the “Soros-occupied State Department.” TPM’s Josh Marshall noted that this claim was “straight out of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the foundational anti-Semitic tract.” The guest was banned from Fox; in retrospect it appears his main offense was being ahead of the curve.

Indeed, it did not take long after the Tree of Life shooting for the conspiracy theory to pop up on Fox News, with former host Glenn Beck in particular making a similar argument while appearing on Sean Hannity’s show.

The major inflection point came when then-Fox host Tucker Carlson pushed his own version of replacement theory in 2021. There was a big outrage — but Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch personally made clear that Carlson had the green light to go there. And go there he did. A New York Times analysis, conducted before Fox fired Carlson, shows that he pushed it in more than 400 episodes.

And now it’s not just Carlson. Numerous Fox personalities and others have followed his lead and made the conspiracy theory into a core plank in GOP politics.

Of course, Carlson now effectively works for Musk.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

RFK Jr.

RFK Jr. Gives Fawning Interview To 'Repulsive' QAnon-Linked Magazine

The QAnon-affiliated revival of the late John F. Kennedy Jr.’s magazine George interviewed independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who said that his cousin would “really like” the magazine’s revival.

George was originally established in 1995 by John F. Kennedy Jr. and went defunct in 2001 following its founder’s 1999 death in a plane crash. The magazine was revived last year by Gene Ho, a photographer for former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign who has promoted the dangerous QAnon conspiracy theory.

Ho has appeared at QAnon events and reportedly “stressed to attendees that he believed that the Q movement ‘is all about blood.’” John F. Kennedy Jr. himself has a special place in QAnon lore, with some in the community falsely claiming that he is still alive and will team up with Trump as his running mate. As noted byMother Jones, Ho “used to sell T-shirts online emblazoned with ‘Trump/Kennedy 2020.’”

On October 7 — just two days before Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that he would be running as an independent instead of continuing in the Democratic primary — Kennedy sat down for an interview with “Rachel Writeside Blonde,” the executive managing editor of George. Writeside Blonde is a QAnon supporter who has associated with QAnon influencers Tom Sidney Bushnell (known online as “Tom Numbers”) and Wayne Willott, known online as “Juan O. Savin.” (Some have falsely claimed that Savin is John F. Kennedy Jr.)

During the interview, Kennedy promised to give Americans “good information” and attacked the media, accusing intelligence agencies of “manipulating the American press for many, many years” and media outlets of being “CIA assets” in response to a question from Writeside Blonde about a “coordinated effort between big tech and government.”

The two praised each other throughout the interview. Writeside Blonde said Kennedy’s answers were “so great,” and Kennedy wished the magazine “the best of luck” and said that his late cousin would “really like this.” (A staffer of the original version of the magazine and a friend of John F. Kennedy Jr. both appear to disagree, telling Mother Jones last year that the QAnon revival of the magazine “makes me sick” and was “repulsive,” respectively.)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s interview with this QAnon-linked outlet comes as he and his anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense have promoted and partnered with multiple QAnon conspiracy theorists over the years, and Kennedy has built alliances with and promoted misinformation from anti-vaccine and far-right figures in general.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Far-Right Message Boards Threaten Fulton County Grand Jurors

Far-Right Message Boards Threaten Fulton County Grand Jurors

Users on far-right message boards are targeting the Fulton County, Georgia, grand jurors who voted to indict former President Donald Trump, including supposedly doxxing their addresses, threatening them with violence, and digging up their supposed online presences.

On August 14, Trump and 18 others were indicted “over their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss” in Georgia, “with prosecutors using a statute normally associated with mobsters to accuse the former president, lawyers and other aides of a ‘criminal enterprise’ to keep him in power.” The grand jurors who indicted Trump were named in the indictment, per state law.

A Media Matters review found that following the release of the indictment and the grand jurors’ names, users on far-right message boards began targeting them in retaliation.

On a message board that has been the home of “Q,” the central figure of the QAnon conspiracy theory, a user posted the names of the jurors alongside their supposed addresses (Media Matters has blurred the supposed doxxing to protect the jurors, and has chosen to blur and remove other material posted by message board users). And on another message board, where the QAnon conspiracy theory initially emerged, a user seemed to threaten to “follow these people home and photograph their faces.”

Other users on the message boards also issued direct threats against the jurors. One user wrote that the grand jurors’ names was a “hit list” to which another user responded, “Based. Godspeed anons, you have all the long range rifles in the world,” while another wrote that they were “about ready to go Turner Diaries on these treasonous n***** fucks” (referring to a violent white nationalist book). And another user ominously wrote that the jurors were “committing election interference” and so they “should indeed be careful.”

Additionally, message board users tried to dig into the jurors’ online presences and backgrounds, posting images of jurors’ supposed Facebook and LinkedIn pages as evidence that they were biased against Trump and posting a link to their supposed political contributions pages from the Federal Election Commission. (According to The Washington Post, “several of the jurors disabled their profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook.“) Users also tried to determine the ethnic and religious backgrounds of the jurors.

Outside of the message boards, users on right-wing social media platforms like Truth Social and GETTR also tried to dig into the jurors’ backgrounds.

The supposed doxxing and targeting of these grand jurors comes after users of these far-right message boards have repeatedly targeted entities and figures with troll campaigns, harassment, and death threats.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Musk Returns QAnon Conspiracist  To 'X' Despite Child Sex Abuse Images

Musk Returns QAnon Conspiracist  To 'X' Despite Child Sex Abuse Images

Far-right conspiracy theorist Dom Lucre — who was banned from Twitter (now called X) last month for sharing a screenshot from a child sexual abuse video and then unilaterally reinstated less than a day later by owner Elon Musk — has announced he has received money from the platform’s ad revenue sharing program.

On July 25, Lucre — a far-right figure known for pushing Pizzagate and QAnon conspiracy theories and whose real name is Dominick McGee — was banned from Twitter after posting an image of child sexual abuse while pushing a baseless conspiracy theory that the Obamas had murdered their former personal chef. Amid a day of pressure from right-wing figures, Musk announced that the child abuse material would simply be removed and Lucre would be reinstated, despite the platform's “zero-tolerance” child sexual exploitation policy.

Now, Lucre has seemingly earned revenue from the platform through its ad revenue sharing program, which is a program Musk announced in February that pays eligible creators a share “for ads that appear in their reply threads.” The first payments to creators started on July 13, with Musk confirming that “revenue payout to content creators will be cumulative from when I first promised to do so in February.” Multiple right-wing misinformers and bad actors announced that they had received a combined total of at least tens of thousands of dollars in ad revenue from that first payment.

A second round of ad revenue sharing payouts were seemingly sent to creators on August 7, including to some creators who also received revenue from the first payout.

Lucre announced that he also received a payout via the ad revenue sharing program, posting an image that showed that he had earned about $2,400 from the platform.

Besides Lucre, another figure associated with QAnon, influencer John Sabal, known online as “QAnon John,” announced that he received his “first payout” from the ad revenue program on August 7 — earning over $1,200. Sabal lauded Musk for making it “possible to make a LIVING fighting the GOOD fight.”

Lucre and Sabal’s announcements come as major companies continue to pay for advertising on the platform, thus helping to subsidize these extreme figures and harmful content, despite advertisers overall fleeing the platform due to its increasingly toxic environment under Musk.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

U.S. Court

Far Right Lauds Affirmative Action Decision -- And Aims At Civil Rights Act

As the Supreme Court handed down its decision that the race-conscious admission policies of Harvard College and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment, effectively dismantling affirmative action in higher education, right-wing media poured praise on the conservative justices for ending what they claim is a “discriminatory” and “racist” practice.

On June 29, the Supreme Court’s decisions in both SFFA v. Presidentand Fellows of Harvard College and SFFA v. University of North Carolina essentially decided that race can no longer be a factor in college admissions, striking down affirmative action. Both cases involved Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit with financial ties to anti-civil rights strategists, suing Harvard University and the University of North Carolina over their admissions processes that the group claimed violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th Amendment, respectively. The elimination of affirmative action has been a right-wing policy goal for years and has been bankrolled through SFFA in order to see its elimination come to fruition.

Right-wing media continuously amplified their hatred of affirmative action leading up to its elimination, platforming guests who view the policy as “un-American.” Some right-wing figures that are celebrating the end of affirmative action have now begun calling for the end of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and “disparate impact” regulations, revealing their ultimate goal to destroy civil rights protections in the United States.

The Supreme Court’s decision to dismantle affirmative action coincides with a network of “parental choice” activists and right-wing media figures demanding radical changes to the U.S. education system. Anti-critical race theory proponents like Christopher Rufo and Russ Vought have worked hand-in-hand with right-wing media to mount aggressive smear campaigns against critical race theory and diversity policies. These groups have deliberately tried to gut the 14th Amendment, which would create massive obstacles to communities of color in education.

As part of their attacks on education, Fox News hosts have already started calling for the destruction of the public school system, arguing that the U.S. should “defund government education” and replace it with private school vouchers. The network has also spread misinformation about critical race theory, even claiming that proponents want to “brainwash your child so that they feel guilty about being born white.” Right-wing media attacks on the education system serve to minimize the impact that the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action will have on diversity and equity in higher education.

Right-wing media agreed with Supreme Court that affirmative action is “unconstitutional,” labeling it a “racist” and “discriminatory” practice:

  • Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk praised the decision, tweeting, “Finally the Court has corrected another awful 70s mistake, and ruled that racially discriminatory college admissions are unconstitutional.”
  • Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich called affirmative action “unconstitutional and anti-American, for college admissions and everywhere else. This is an earthquake that should upend the left’s racist standards, not just in education but in employment at every level.”
  • On America’s Newsroom, former Trump official Roger Severino claimed that “45% of the students of African American descent admitted to Harvard would not have made it according to Harvard's own statistics had they not done the racial balancing in the name of diversity. Now, Harvard only has 8% of conservatives that are admitted students, 82% of Harvard students come from wealthy backgrounds. It’s not really about diversity. It was about racial balancing.”
  • The Daily Caller published an article, titled “Supreme Court Rules Against Racial Prejudice In College Admissions,” framing affirmative action as being discriminatory.
  • Newsmax’s Justine Brooke Murray tweeted that people “already knew” affirmative action was discriminatory prior to the Supreme Court decision, arguing that prospective students “should not be judged by the color of their skin but by content of their character!”
  • Racist livestreamer Steven Crowder claimed that because of the Supreme Court decision, “Asian students can no longer be discriminated against.”

Some right-wing figures praised former President Donald Trump for his Supreme Court picks who helped bring affirmative action to an end:

  • Former Trump adviser and white nationalist Stephen Miller called the decision a “colossal win for USA. Colossal achievement for 45 in shaping the Court to realize this victory.”
  • Failed congressional candidate and “proud Islamophobe” Laura Loomer celebrated the decision as a “great day” that “was only made possible today thanks to President Donald J Trump’s nomination of 3 SCOTUS justices.”
  • Newsmax contributor Karoline Leavitt claimed that “President Donald Trump made today's historic decision to end the racist college admissions process possible because he delivered on his promise to appoint constitutionalist justices.”

Despite polling on affirmative action showing high rates of approval with marginalized groups, right-wing media argued that the Supreme Court’s decision was “popular” with all Americans:

  • Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly tweeted, “Race-based admissions will still continue bc these institutions will find sneaky ways of doing it, but they will no longer have the absurd cover of law. THESE POLICIES HAVE BEEN HURTING MINORITY GROUPS FOR DECADES. And ppl of all races oppose them. This is a great day for America.”
  • Fox News Radio host Guy Benson tweeted, “We are told SCOTUS is ‘losing legitimacy’ by issuing rulings that are ‘out of touch’ or unpopular. That misunderstands the justices’ function, of course, but many of the same people who’ve engaged in such concern trolling will be screaming over today’s decision.” Benson also posted an image of polling data, seemingly ignoring that the results showed that among American adults familiar with affirmative action, nearly every racial category mostly saw it as a “good thing.”

Fringe and right-wing accounts also celebrated the decision as a victory for white people and discussed what’s “next up”:

  • Following the decision, Rufo tweeted: “The Supreme Court has struck down affirmative action in college admissions. It's time to go further: abolish DEI bureaucracies, prohibit race-based hiring, eliminate the ‘disparate impact’ doctrine, and restore the principle of colorblind equality in all of our institutions.”
  • Gab founder and virulent antisemite Andrew Torba posted, “Affirmative action is dead. Roe is dead. Next up: the Civil Rights Act so we can restore the freedom of association in this country.”
  • White nationalist vlogger Steve Franssen tweeted “LETS GO WHITE RACE” in response to the decision.
  • On Gab, failed Senate candidate and Proud Boys supporter Lauren Witzke posted on Gab, “How many hopes and dreams have been destroyed for White people due to this vile policy? Affirmative Action is truly one of the biggest stains on America. Overqualified people were rejected from jobs and schools due to the color of their skin. It’s been unconstitutional from the start. It’s time to put an END to the cruel and evil practice of Affirmative Action.”
  • Far-right account Write Winger posted on Gab, “With race-based admissions being struck down at colleges, now is the time for White people to claim their space in this oh so diverse and inclusive environment, and I’ll tell you how you personally can help. If your school or employer has or does anything based on race, I want you to politely ask, in writing preferably via email, how you can go about creating the same for White people.”
  • Author Padraig Martin posted on Gab, “While Affirmative Action harmed hundreds of thousands of qualified White applicants over the past five decades, nobody gave a damn. How many aspiring White applicants from low income homes were denied economic advancement because they were White? I appreciate this decision, but just remember - if you are White, the United States government still hates you for being White and actively seeks your displacement and replacement with its myriad of anti-White policies.”

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Elon Musk

Extremist Musk Repeatedly Promotes QAnon 'Influencer' On Twitter

CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly boosted a QAnon influencer on Twitter, doing so at least two dozen times since he took over the platform and reinstated the influencer’s account, a Media Matters analysis has found.

The QAnon influencer, known online as “Kanekoa,” is a member of a QAnon influencer collective known as We The Media. Kanekoa is also a member of an online anti-vaccine influencer channel that includes both anti-vaccine and QAnon-supporting figures, and had partnered with election denial organization True the Vote to target an election software company. The account was previously banned on the platform, but was seemingly reinstated in December, while also gaining reach in right-wing circles by being promoted by figures like Steve Bannon, Dan Bongino, Mike Lindell, and Michael Flynn (then-President Donald Trump also amplified the account multiple times on Twitter in December 2020).

Since Kanekoa’s reinstatement, Musk has repeatedly interacted with the account, replying at least 24 times to the QAnon influencer’s tweets, according to a Media Matters review. The replies have featured Musk making positive remarks about Kanekoa’s tweets, calling them an “interesting thread” and a “very important thread” and responding with a bullseye emoji. Musk also entertained a conspiracy theory from Kanekoa about voting and seemed to agree with Kanekoa’s baseless claim that “Anthony Fauci funded the development of COVID-19.”

Musk also tagged Twitter’s community notes multiple times in Kanekoa’s replies — referring to the platform's crowdsourced, volunteer-driven fact-checking system which asks users to add context to a tweet and then vote on the most helpful additions. Notably, this feature is not actually a stand-in for rigorous, in-house content moderators — many of whom Musk has fired.

The Twitter CEO’s interactions with Kanekoa’s tweets have been correlated with a boost in the QAnon influencer’s engagement, as the tweets that Musk has replied to have gotten far more engagement than is typical for the account. At time of publication, Kanekoa has earned an average of more than 7,500 retweets for each tweet Musk has replied to — or more than 159,000 retweets in total. This is more than four times as many retweets as Kanekoa’s average of over 1,700 retweets for all of the account’s tweets since it was reinstated.

Kanekoa has even hyped Musk’s interactions with their tweets, calling it “the Elon Musk stamp of approval,” and other supporters in the QAnon community have also praised and hyped Musk as an ally.

Musk interacting with Kanekoa, a QAnon influencer who was reinstated on the platform under his management, is part of a larger pattern of the new CEO boosting right-wing content and extremism. Since taking over the platform, Musk has reinstated dozens of extremist and misinformation-peddling accounts on the platform and interacted with far-right accounts hundreds of times, while also firing content moderation staff and weakening content moderation policies. The platform has subsequently lost hundreds of millions in advertising revenue.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Trump Coup Lawyer's 'Election Integrity' Outfit Aligning With QAnon Influencers

Trump Coup Lawyer's 'Election Integrity' Outfit Aligning With QAnon Influencers

The head of Fairfax County, Virginia’s purported “election integrity” task force lauded the supposed research abilities of certain QAnon influencers and admitted to sending their materials to the Fairfax County Office of Elections on a podcast hosted by the Conservative Partnership Institute’s Cleta Mitchell. Mitchell reportedly helped organize the group in 2021 ahead of the Virginia gubernatorial race, along with 18 other local task forces.

Mitchell leads CPI’s Election Integrity Network, an organization that she says aims to create “a volunteer army of citizens” in various positions related to election administration, motivated by false claims of election fraud. She is one of at least 20 of Trump’s allies — along with former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former Pentagon official Kash Patel — who were intimately involved in Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election and are now associated with CPI, a pro-Trump think tank. Mitchell, who was on the call with then-President Donald Trump when he pressed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes to overturn the presidential election in the state, was subpoenaed as part of a Fulton County, Georgia, special grand jury investigation into potential criminal election interference.

Christine Brim, the leader of the task force in Fairfax County, appeared on an episode of Who’s Counting? with Cleta Mitchell uploaded on October 11, and she claimed that the group put together a “20-page memo” on election software company Konnech in September that “really just aggregated data, screenshots and so on from” QAnon influencers. Brim said the task force sent the memo to the county board of elections.

Konnech has been targeted by influential election-denial organization True the Vote and collaborating QAnon influencers, who allege that the Chinese Communist Party used the company to influence American elections. Konnech has sued True the Vote for defamation. Attacks on Konnech ramped up when its CEO was arrested “on suspicion of theft of personal identifying information” about poll workers, even though the charges were unrelated to vote tabulation or election results. After the CEO’s arrest, the Fairfax County Office of Elections canceled its contract with Konnech.

The QAnon figures behind the data Brim shared, whom she called “very professional researchers,” are known online as Kanekoa and CognitiveCarbon. They are members of We The Media, a collective channel of QAnon influencers. (A blog post from the group mentioning the memo also cited another QAnon influencer and member of We The Media known as The Authority.)

CLETA MITCHELL (HOST): I want to come back to something here because I think that it’s one of the reasons I think this is so important is that you and your group of volunteers and, as you say, researchers around the country, but because you already were working in Fairfax County, you were able to and did take the initiative starting when — I mean, walk us through the schedule of the things that you took to the county board of elections, what they said, how, you know, sort of what happened each step along the way. Because there were multiple — there were multiple steps.

CHRISTINE BRIM (CHAIRMAN OF FAIRFAX COUNTY GOP ELECTION INTEGRITY TASK FORCE): There were. And let me just backtrack slightly. We had a much more difficult relationship with our prior registrar. We got a new registrar in late March of this year. And he has been working very hard with a — with his staff, with his staff to increase transparency and to improve relationships. And we also have, under Gov. [Glenn] Youngkin, our new Republican governor, appointed Susan Beals as our new commissioner of the state Department of Elections. And she has been issuing guidance after guidance that has improved transparency. So this has been a — an exciting year for us. The problem, of course, with transparency is you have to go copy the documents, right? But we even got the right to photograph where before we hadn’t had it. So we — when this situation started in August, we were still clarifying some issues in terms of transparency. But we had established a good working relationship with the office and with the staff much better than last year. And last year was much better than the year before.

We do a lot of training of poll watchers. We have 264 precincts. We coordinate with the Fairfax County Office of Elections so our training conforms to what they’re actually teaching their chiefs and their supervisors as well. We want to teach the right thing.

So there’s — that’s the environment in which this, this bomb kind of went off, from an informational point of view, and we said, “Oh, my gosh. What are we going to do?” So we immediately, I immediately emailed them, August 16, and said, “You really need to escalate this. This is a problem. We have to take this seriously.” And at that point, send in also a Freedom of Information Act for any additional contracts. We already had — because we have an active Freedom of Information activity, already had the original contracts from 2016.

MITCHELL: Oh wow.

BRIM: This has been out since 2016 that our election officers, names, mail, mailing addresses and so on, have been potentially going over to China, but certainly looked at. But the — that didn’t get a response and so we —

MITCHELL: You sent that in and, what, got no response?

BRIM: So August 16, so the email didn’t get a response, but we did get the contractual information back and that was helpful. And then following that on — I’m trying to think the sequence here — we again send another email saying, “No, you really need to take this seriously.” And at that point I think they were probably talking to their lawyers because we were getting fewer responses from them.

Then on September 6, we constructed a whole memo, which is linked from the article, about a 20-page memo, which really just aggregated data, screenshots and so on from these wonderful researchers, Kanekoa, CognitiveCarbon. They all work under pseudonyms over at Substack, but they had done — these were clearly very professional researchers with a lot of linguistic capabilities. They — and also I.T. knowledge — who were trying to corroborate, and did corroborate, all of the information with these links to the Chinese companies. And we — our team, we had a small research team, which was pulling this together, of three, four people, just scanning the environment for additional research out there, which they do anyway. They’re always scanning the environment for opposition situations, opposition groups, opposition publications in Virginia. So they focused on this, and that was tremendously helpful because we also could combine that with the contractual information that we had.

And pulled that together, reverified every single link. So we went back and, you know, revisited the links, so that everything was firsthand. Took our own screenshots.

MITCHELL: Wow. I see, I see what you did.

BRIM: Everything was — so that we didn’t send in anything that was uncorroborated by us, that we were told they would research the issues.

Later on in the interview, Brim told Mitchell that “one-off researchers, like Kanekoa,” provided “tremendous information,” from whom “election integrity working groups … have the capability to take that information and turn it into something operational locally.”

CLETA MITCHELL (HOST): I think that I really wanted you to have the opportunity — I wanted to have the opportunity for people to hear what you all had done, in conjunction with many, many others, but that ultimately, where the rubber meets the road, is taking the information and getting something done in the local election office. And you've really demonstrated the importance of that. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy wouldn’t have acted on its own. I don’t think they would have acted on their own.

CHRISTINE BRIM (CHAIRMAN OF FAIRFAX COUNTY GOP ELECTION INTEGRITY TASK FORCE): I think eventually they would have. In 2023, they wouldn’t have renewed the contract, but it would have not been — it would have stayed in place through the election. And I think some places may choose to do that. I know DeKalb County —

MITCHELL: Georgia.

BRIM: — is another user of PollChief. There’s — but, you know, it is not just a team. It’s the fact that this is a growing team. This is a growing team in Fairfax. The coordination across Virginia is there. We work and communicate and get ideas from people in other states.

MITCHELL: Right.

BRIM: In part due to the wonderful efforts that you’ve made. And then we have these outside groups that are just these one-off researchers, like Kanekoa, who suddenly provide tremendous information. And the counties, these election integrity working groups, are poised and have the capability to take that information and turn it into something operational locally. And this is just kind of organically happening. It's extremely effective. Little by little, we’re kind of learning how to do this.

Since the interview came out, Kanekoa has praised the group for relying on the materials that both Kanekoa and CongnitiveCarbon put online, calling it “very cool” and claiming it “demonstrates the power of getting involved in your local elections.”

This instance of a CPI- and GOP-linked Fairfax County group sending material from QAnon influencers to the county board of elections further demonstrates the connections between the QAnon and election denial movements. Media Matters has previously documented True the Vote’s collaboration with QAnon figures, major election denial funder Patrick Byrne’s significant connections to the QAnon community, and a QAnon influencer’s involvement with a coalition recruiting and aiming to elect election-denialist secretary of state candidates. And according to Nevada Republican secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant, the leader of that coalition, he had been “working very close” with Mitchell and CPI.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Arizona GOP Candidate Kari Lake Campaigns On QAnon Show

Arizona GOP Candidate Kari Lake Campaigns On QAnon Show

Days before the state’s August 2 primary, Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake appeared on a QAnon show where she asked viewers to donate to her campaign and vote for her. The hosts also endorsed her; invoked the QAnon conspiracy theory’s central figure and mentioned other QAnon figures; and seemingly bragged that her interview showed the influence of the “anons.”

On July 29, Lake, a frontrunner in the primary, appeared on the MatrixxxGrooove Show (or MG Show), which is co-hosted by QAnon influencer Jeffrey Pedersen. (Pedersen is known online as “intheMatrixxx” and Lake has previously been photographed with him.) During the interview, Pedersen asked viewers to donate “$17, $20, $50, you know, to help her get to the final stretch, maybe get some TV ads out there”; 17 is a reference to “Q,” the conspiracy theory’s central figure, being the 17th letter of the alphabet. He also urged Lake to use one of his followers who has “such a beautiful voice” for her campaign events.

Lake also asked viewers to “vote early, if you can, vote on election day,” to donate to her campaign, and to “let your friends and relatives in Arizona know how much is on the line right now.” Pedersen also mentioned other QAnon influencers and a QAnon influencer collective that he is a part of, and he urged viewers to vote for Lake. Lake also said it was “a real pleasure” to meet the show’s co-hosts, and Pedersen said that “MG Show endorses Kari Lake for Arizona governor.”


After the interview, Pedersen praised Lake for coming on, saying, “I’m proud that she came on the show. That really shows me a lot.” He also seemingly suggested it showed the influence of “the anons out in this community.”

Multiple other Arizona political figures have now appeared onMatrixxxGrooove Show, including Dan Schultz, who played a major role in an increase in QAnon supporters becoming Republican precinct committee members.

(To see the full Kari Lake interview on the MG Show, click here.)

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

QAnon Republican Threatens 'Civil War' If America 'Moves Past' 2020 Election

QAnon Republican Threatens 'Civil War' If America 'Moves Past' 2020 Election

Wayne Willott, a QAnon influencer known online as “Juan O. Savin” who is recruiting and supporting candidates for election-administration positions around the country, warned of “civil war” if people try to “move past” the 2020 presidential election.

Savin is part of a coalition led by Jim Marchant, which aims to recruit and elect secretary of state candidates who have pushed false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.


While appearing on a QAnon supporter’s online show, Savin said that “you cannot move past” the false voter fraud claims in the 2020 election and that if people try to there would be “probably civil war for America” because “there’s plenty of Americans that will not put up with this and they will not stand down.”




Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Trump’s New Attorney Demanded ‘Capital Punishment’ For Biden Officials

Trump’s New Attorney Demanded ‘Capital Punishment’ For Biden Officials

Peter Ticktin, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, has repeatedly gone on online shows hosted by supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory. During some of these appearances, hosts have asked Ticktin to connect them with Trump, and in one instance, Ticktin and the host suggested members of the Biden administration should be put to death.

In March, Politico reported that Trump filed a lawsuit against some of his perceived political enemies, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former FBI Director James Comey, and the Democratic National Committee, accusing them of a “racketeering conspiracy for allegedly joining in ‘an unthinkable plot’ to falsely accuse Trump of colluding with Russia in the 2016 presidential election.” Ticktin, who is a longtime friend of Trump’s, is serving as one of the lead counsels for Trump on the case.

Later that month, Ticktin spoke at Mar-A-Lago for an event for QAnon-supporting Florida congressional candidate Darlene Swaffar, during which QAnon influencers Ann Vandersteel and Jeffrey Pedersen — who is known online as “intheMatrixxx” — also spoke. Pedersen was photographed with Ticktin at the event.

In June, Ticktin appeared on RedPill78, which is hosted by QAnon supporter Zak Paine, who participated in the January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol. During the interview, Ticktin told Paine that “the real insurrection occurred on November 3 and 4,” referring to false voter fraud claims, and that “if we had a stolen election, that means the people that are in the White House are criminals -- not only criminals but criminals guilty of capital punishment crimes.” Paine agreed, later saying, “You’re absolutely right when you said that these are capital crimes. We’re talking about treason.”

When Paine asked Ticktin “what are we doing” in terms of “exposing this fraud,” Ticktin said, “I've got one thing I’m working on now that you're going to hear about in about a month.” And at the end of the interview, after they discussed Trump’s lawsuit, Paine asked Ticktin to “tell Donald Trump I said hello” and to “help me get an invite to Mar-A-Lago,” adding after the interview, “Hopefully one of these days, I am going to be able to get down to Mar-A-Lago and if I could interview President Trump, you all know it would be a dream come true.”

A couple of months earlier, on April 11, Ticktin appeared on Vandersteel's online show, Steel Truth. During the interview, the two discussed Trump’s lawsuit and Ticktin’s book about Trump (Vandersteel suggested Ticktin signed a copy for her), and she told Ticktin, “It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance the other evening at another event in Mar-A-Lago.”

The following day, Ticktin appeared on the QAnon-supportingMatrixxxGrooove Show (or MG Show), co-hosted by Pedersen. During the interview, Ticktin promoted Trump’s lawsuit and pushed false voter fraud claims alongside the hosts, suggesting the 2020 presidential election was “the real insurrection.” While promoting Ticktin’s book, Pedersen also noted that he had a signed copy, and he asked Ticktin to tell Trump that “we’d love to have him on the show.” (Pedersen had also claimed to be at Ticktin’s office the day before, weeks after claiming that he “might be meeting with” Ticktin “for some other things too.”)

Days later, Pedersen claimed on his show that he had met Trump at Mar-A-Lago that past weekend, saying that “Peter Ticktin also let him [Trump] know that we were there” and that Trump “knew we were there. He knew who we were.”

Ticktin’s association with the far-right internet extends beyond QAnon as well: In April, Ticktin apparently teamed up with far-right blog The Gateway Pundit to “crowdsource videos” from the January 6 insurrection, “requesting footage of ‘Trump protestors being peaceful’ and of ‘police or anyone else waving/encouraging people to go into the Capitol building,’” as reported by Mediaite.

This is not the first time a person in Trump's orbit has associated with QAnon-connected figures. Trump himself amplified and praised the QAnon community when he was president. And Pedersen and his co-host Shannon Townsend obtained press credentials for a Trump rally last July, after which “Trump associates … told POLITICO that they had attempted to weed out any QAnon influences — both adherents and postings — getting close to him.” But Trump has continued to amplify QAnon-promoting accounts since he began actively using his social media platform Truth Social.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Fox Network’s Lara Logan Goes Full QAnon, Questions Moon Landing

Fox Network’s Lara Logan Goes Full QAnon, Questions Moon Landing

Lara Logan, a Fox Nation host whose current relationship with the network is unclear, was interviewed by a QAnon influencer with ties to a QAnon group in Dallas that is awaiting the supposed return of the late President John F. Kennedy and his son. During the interview, the influencer directly invoked “Q,” the conspiracy theory’s central figure, and Logan appeared to suggest that the 1969 landing on the moon was somehow suspect.

In videos uploaded in separate parts on February 23 and 24, Logan -- who has been absent from Fox since comparing Dr. Anthony Fauci to the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele -- did an interview with Tom Sidney Bushnell, a QAnon influencer known online as “Tom Numbers.” Bushnell has been associated with Michael Brian Protzman, another QAnon influencer known online as “Negative48” who is leading a gathering in Dallas organized around the belief that John F. Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. will appear at the grassy knoll where the senior Kennedy was shot with former President Donald Trump.

Bushnell’s videos of his interview with Logan were uploaded to his own YouTube channel, despite the platform’s supposed QAnon crackdown, and even appeared to be monetized via ads.

During the interview, Logan alleged that there was some kind of secret technology that could have prevented the attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. She also seemed to suggest that there was something suspicious about the July 1969 moon landing, using air quotes when mentioning Neil Armstrong and (wrongly) claiming that the United States government officially sent astronauts to the moon only once. During the interview, Bushnell also directly invoked Q by claiming that Trump mentioned the number 17 -- referring to Q being the 17th letter of the alphabet -- during an event about the Space Force.

TOM SIDNEY BUSHNELL: I mentioned about the Space Force flag ceremony with President Trump, with POTUS in the Oval Office. And he specifically spoke very deliberately. I think there were a lot of codes -- well there were, but it’s interesting what you’re saying now. He said that there were a number of -- so he had people from the Space Force Command, he said, “Whether people like it or not, the future is space,” and he kept going on and on about it. And he shows the Space Force flag and the Space Force flag is the arrowhead, which is the same symbol as Star Trek.
And he talked about missiles and weapons, and he says -- and he kept repeating. He says, “We have — all these other countries have, you know, really quick missiles, but we have -- we have one that is 17 times quicker than any -- anyone.” ... And he kept repeating the word 17. Seventeen is Q, et cetera, but he kept saying it over and over again. Then he said, “Yeah, it’s faster than anything out there, and it’s 17 times quicker than any, you know, anything that either everyone else has got or we had with the U.S. industry.” I think he was making the point that the U.S. is behind China and Russia and other places, and theirs was a bit faster. But then this one that they’ve got now because of Space Force was 17 times quicker. And he kept reemphasizing that all the time. So I think it was loaded with code.
…
LARA LOGAN (FOX NATION HOST): You think the Chinese didn’t know we had a Space Force or the Iranians or the Russians and so on and so on, right? It’s ridiculous. So it becomes a bigger question that we forget to ask because we get caught up in the arguing, you know, this and that about Trump. Why was this kept secret from the American people? We put Neil Armstrong on the moon. That wasn’t a secret, right? And really, if you think about it, we’re supposed to believe that after putting Neil Armstrong on the moon, we never went back? We just decided to go to the moon once and then we decided, “Oh, we’re going to concentrate on going into Mars, deeper into space. Let’s go into deep space.” Come on. It’s not even logical. And yet all of us fall for these things, me included, you know, because we have this innate faith in our leaders and our institutions and our media, in our government. We know that they lie and this and that. But we sort of think that there’s a threshold below which they won't go -- well that used to be the case anyway. It’s not the case anymore. And it’s a very important question, why was Space Force classified in the first place?

Logan’s appearance with a QAnon influencer comes months after John Sabal, another QAnon influencer who is known online as “QAnon John,” initially claimed that Logan would be appearing at his QAnon conference in Las Vegas, which Fox later denied. This is not Logan’s first brush with conspiracy theory influencers, as she has previously collaborated with Mikki Willis, the director of the viral coronavirus conspiracy theory videoPlandemic.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters