A special SPLC Hatewatch investigation has uncovered far-right TV host Jack Posobiec’s ties to white supremacy, neo-fascists, antisemites — and the White House.
Posobiec, a host for One America News Network (OANN), rose to conservative fame using a “Game of Thrones” fan account to tweet antisemitic attacks and spread propaganda. Then, he started linking up with white supremacists like Richard Spencer.
Beginning in 2016, Posobiec ramped up his efforts to boost hate content on Twitter, sharing propaganda promoting white supremacist activism, collaborating with white supremacists and participating in disinformation campaigns. Posobiec described himself as “fmr CBS News” in his Twitter bio while appearing to cover news events like press conferences. CBS News and two other CBS affiliates where Posobiec lived told Hatewatch that he never worked there.
During that time, his promotion of the now-infamous “Pizzagate” conspiracy netted him more than 9,000 new followers each month. Regardless, Twitter verified Posobiec’s account, which gave him an appearance of authority. He proceeded to unleash a torrent of disinformation and hate content, such as white supremacist memes, tweeting more than 60,000 times between June 2018 and June 2020.
Posobiec forged physical ties with far-right figures outside of the 2016 Republican National Convention while working for Citizens for Trump, a 501(c)(4) organization tied to longtime political operative Roger Stone. Posobiec’s connections included white nationalist Spencer, Kevin DeAnna, a white supremacist author who has written thousands of posts for VDARE and American Renaissance; Nathan Damigo, the founder of the white nationalist group Identity Evropa; Peter Brimelow and his wife Lydia, of the white nationalist nonprofit VDARE; and male supremacist Daryush “Roosh” Valizadeh.
Posobiec’s affiliation with OANN, a network known for propping up the president, has made him increasingly important to President Trump’s 2020 campaign and captured the attention of the president himself.
On May 2, Trump praised Posobiec in a tweet. “That’s right Jack. Keep up the good work!” Trump was referring to the OANN host boasting on Twitter that the president reads his feed. It was not the first time Trump promoted Posobiec to his millions of followers. Trump also posted a self-promotional video to Twitter on May 16, where he was depicted as being surrounded by his allies while he gives a speech from the movie “Independence Day.” Posobiec’s face was included in the video alongside Vice President Mike Pence.
Sincerely,
The Southern Poverty Law Center
No comments:
Post a Comment