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Trump Biggest Internet Supporters Condemn White Nationalists

REUTERS/Robert Galbraith

Ian Miles Cheong Contributor
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Donald Trump’s most vocal supporters on the Internet were also among the first to disavow white nationalists at the Unite The Right march that took place this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Following the tragic event Saturday — and even in the days leading up to the march — Trump supporters on Reddit’s r/The_Donald were angry at the liberal media’s attempts to associate them to the alt-right fringe. Some have even gone so far as to float George Soros-conspiracy theories about how white nationalist groups formed and descended upon the city.

On r/The_Donald, the two most popular posts of the past day were condemnations of all extremist organizations, including the KKK, white nationalists, and the Nazis. “The only reason for an American to hold a Nazi flag is if it has been captured in battle,” declared members of the community.

At present, one of the currently highest trending posts is about Jason Kessler, who organized the Unite The Right march in Charlottesville. The post’s creator, whothefvckk, uncovered sourced details about Kessler revealing the alt-right leader of being formerly involved in the Occupy Movement in 2011. It is claimed that Kessler was a “full-fledged” supporter of Barack Obama.

The author states that Kessler changed his views in January 2017 when he formed the white supremacist group “Unity & Security for America,” and speculates that Kessler may have invited neo-Nazi and KKK supporters to the march “to smear everyone attending.”

Further speculation in the discussion thread contains unsubstantiated suggestions that billionaire George Soros or the Deep State (America’s covert intelligence agencies) may be behind it all — echoing similar talking points from InfoWars’ Alex Jones, who called the event a Soros-funded psy-op.

Elsewhere in the community, members questioned why there were no first-hand accounts of the Charlottesville protest from any members of r/The_Donald.

In a thread about the Trump rally in Seattle organized by Joey Gibson and the pro-Donald Trump group Patriot Prayer on Sunday, posters suggested that there may be paid agitators on both the Antifa and Trump sides to cause violence — with even more suggestions that Soros or the Deep State were involved.

In one of Gibson’s Oregon events, Jeremy Christian, the man who stabbed to death two people aboard a Portland train, was filmed and photographed doing Nazi salutes while shouting about Muslims before being kicked out of the event. On Facebook, Christian expressed hatred for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. His nebulous political affiliations remain a curiosity.

In the wake of Soros-related conspiracy theories, members of the forum are calling for the billionaire’s assets to be frozen. A popular thread suggests that doing so would stop further violence from both Antifa and the alt-right. However, other members went even further to say that Soros himself was nothing more than a “publicly visible operative for the globalist elites” who is “definitely not the main guy in charge.”

However far-reaching their claims about Soros or the Deep State may be, r/The_Donald is keen to decry both alt-right and Antifa violence and condemn white nationalists who support Donald Trump.

Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.