Reprinted with permission from MediaMatters.
On Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump retweeted three anti-Muslim videos posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of the far-right, ultranationalist Britain First political organization, who has previously been “found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment.” Trump’s retweets of three videos attempting to link Muslims to violent crime, one of which has been debunked and the other two of which lacked context, were praised by white nationalists and far-right ideologues on Twitter and by Internet trolls on 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit message boards. At least one prominent fake news website also defended Trump’s retweets.
Prominent white nationalist David Duke:
Trump retweets video of crippled white kid in Europe being beaten by migrants, and white people being thrown off a roof and then beaten to death, He’s condemned for showing us what the fake news media WON’T. Thank God for Trump! That’s why we love him!
— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) November 29, 2017
Infowars’ Paul Joseph Watson:
When you get outraged over Trump retweeting Britain First yet simultaneously support Antifa, an extremist group that violently attacks people with bike locks, pepper spray & rocks for having a different opinion. pic.twitter.com/2Kfac2liNI
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 29, 2017
If you’re outraged over Trump retweeting Britain First, why do you also support #BlackLivesMatter – a group whose ideological guru is a cop-killing terrorist? ???? https://t.co/gm8Lhf2oyq
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 29, 2017
Far-right vlogger and identitarian movement supporter Peter Sweden:
Trump retweeted @JaydaBF of the party Britain First !!!
He actually did it. Mainstream media hate articles incoming in 3…2…1… pic.twitter.com/0kuB4EFS19
— PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) November 29, 2017
White nationalist podcast host James Allsup:
The dishonest lying press is more upset about Trump sharing videos of migrant crime than they are about migrants raping, beating, and murdering Europeans across the continent. #WednesdayWisdom #FakeNews pic.twitter.com/5W89Kf1Ure
— James ???? Allsup (@realJamesAllsup) November 29, 2017
Trump may not be perfect, but just think: instead of a president ignoring and obfuscating the problems surrounding mass migration, we have a president literally retweeting Liveleak-style migrant crime videos. Important paradigm shift. pic.twitter.com/UDkcyH4mq4
— James ???? Allsup (@realJamesAllsup) November 29, 2017
White nationalist associate of Richard Spencer, Evan McLaren:
The issues raised by @BritainFirstHQ matter more than the gross domestic product, merchant. https://t.co/PPIjKDxtCz
— Evan McLaren (@EvanMcLaren) November 29, 2017
White nationalist congressional hopeful Grant J. Kidney:
Thoughts on Trump retweeting videos showcasing dangers of Islam. ???????? pic.twitter.com/T54Fe5cR9t
— GRANT J. KIDNEY ???????? (@GrantJKidney) November 29, 2017
White nationalist group Defend Europa:
Trump Tweets Anti-Islam Video From UK Nationalist Grouphttps://t.co/2hdUv7h2gX
— Defend Europa (@DefendEvropa) November 29, 2017
Anti-immigration hate website VDARE:
We should annex Britain tbh
— Virginia Dare (@vdare) November 29, 2017
A poster on 4chan’s “politically incorrect” message board: “Trump just went full alt right.”
Another 4chan/pol/ user wrote, “PRAISE TRUMP,” calling the videos Trump shared “/POL/-TIER MUSLIM CHIMPOUT VIDEOS” — an indication that the videos were extreme enough to have been promoted by 4chan users.
One user on the 8chan/pol/ message board, in reference to Trump’s tweets, wrote, “I’m still not tired of winning. Sieg fucking heil.”
And on the pro-Trump subreddit “/r/The_Donald,” one user shared the videos Trump retweeted and directed other users to an online tool that can be used to download the videos, likely to share them through different mediums.
Fake news website Conservative Tribune praised Trump’s tweetstorm in a post, writing, “Refusing to cower to political correctness, President Donald Trump went rogue Wednesday, taking dead aim at radical Islamic terrorists and the violence they sow.”
