Donald Trump Jr. loves far-right internet trolls and they love him back – Salon

Donald Trump Jr., son of President Donald Trump, frequently uses his prominence on Twitter and proximity to the White House to promote right-wing media trolls who defend his father and smear mainstream media.

Key voices in the incestuous right-wingalternative media ecosystemhave found an ally in the younger Trump, who often retweets and favorites tweets from the echo chambers loudest voices, and who isrumoredto serve as a White House source to at least one far-right personality. Like the far-right trolls he expresses admiration for, Trump spends his time on Twitterspreadingdebunked conspiracy theories,smearingmainstream media outlets,promotingbogus alt-right videos, andamplifyingmessages with white nationalist undertones. Trumps behavior, in effect, validates the larger alternative media ecosystem and attempts to bring the fringe worldview into the mainstream.

Mike Cernovich

Trump has repeatedly indicated an affinity for right-wing troll and Infowars contributor Mike Cernovich. Cernovich gained notoriety during the 2016 election for promotingfakeconspiracytheoriessuch as the Pizzagate narrative, accusing Democratic officials of operating a child sex trafficking ring in the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria. Infowars Alex Jones told his audience that the presidents sons, especially Donald Jr.,are Cernovichs sourceson White House affairs. And earlier this year, Trump claimed that in a long gone time of unbiased journalism Cernovich would win the Pulitzer prize for hisfaux scandal storythat alleged Susan Rice, who served as national security adviser to then-President Barack Obama, was responsible for improper unmasking of Trump associates caught in surveillance of foreign officials.

Stefan Molyneux

The younger Trump alsofrequentlyretweetsStefan Molyneaux, a prominent far-right blogger whopromotesright-wing trolls and conspiracy theories about globalism. Trump closely follows Molyneaux, boosting many of his tweets and favoritingonethat featured a depiction of CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski in a Nazi uniform.

Infowars Alex Jones and Paul Joseph Watson

Infowars top conspiracy peddlers, Paul Joseph Watson and Alex Jones, also have Trumps attention. During the 2016 election, Trumpshared an Infowars articlethat falsely accused Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton of wearing an earpiece during the first presidential debate. Trump has alsoliked tweetsfrom Watson and recentlyattacked CNNwhile Infowars was pushing a meme war against the network.

4chan

While he wassharing anti-CNN memes, Trump also favorited atweetfrom a Twitter account connected to the internet cesspool known as 4chans politically incorrect message board (/pol/). The tweet contained a list of companies that advertise on CNN and encouraged people to tweet at the companies and ask them to stop advertising on the network. Alongside far-right ideologies, the board often features anti-Semitic, racist, sexist, homophobic, and white nationalist content.

Jack Posobiec

Trump also promotes right-wing troll Jack Posobiec on Twitter. Posobiecspublicity stuntsandbogus talking pointshave duped mainstream media sources and public officials. On July 8, Trumpshared a videoPosobiec posted that depicted protesters setting fires in Germany in response to the G-20 summit. Posobiec is a media troll who got temporary White House credentials to attend the press briefings. He is responsible for peddling hacked emails that were likely sourced from Russia, spreading the Pizzagate conspiracy, and orchestrating smear campaigns against people who opposed the senior Trump.

Trumps affinity for these far-right media personalities and his active promotion of their half-baked theories about the days news validates the alternative media ecosystem to its audience and furthers the far-rights attempt to delegitimize longstanding journalistic institutions. By emulating and affirming these fringe figures, Trump furthers his fathersdisdain for the pressand stokes public distrust of legitimate news outlets.

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Donald Trump Jr. loves far-right internet trolls and they love him back - Salon