Someone from the White House seems to be giving info on NSC staffers to alt-right bloggers. https://t.co/VvW6o503ez
— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) July 10, 2017
On June 11, alt-right blogger Mike Cernovich published an article attacking an assistant to National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, claiming the previously low-profile civil servant wanted to “sabotage” President Donald Trump.
The piece described Eric Ciaramella as “pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia” and alleged, with no evidence, that he was possibly responsible for high-level leaks. The response to the piece included online threats of violence against Ciaramella, which contributed to his decision to leave his job at the National Security Council a few weeks early, according to two sources familiar with the situation…
Career civil servants often endure stressful working conditions, but in the Trump White House, some of them face online trolling from alt-right bloggers who seek to portray them as clandestine partisans plotting to sabotage the president’s agenda. The online attacks often cite information that appears to be provided by unnamed White House officials or Trump loyalists.
The trend has unnerved the career intelligence analysts, diplomats, security experts, and military officers who are accustomed to operating outside the political arena. Coupled with White House talking points accusing government employees of jeopardizing the country’s security through leaks to the media, the online abuse threatens to damage morale and politicize institutions long seen as impartial and above partisan combat…
Before the 2016 election, Cernovich wrote self-help books for men who wanted to discover their inner “alpha male.” He found a larger audience, however, with his fervent pro-Trump, Hillary Clinton-bashing online blogs, tweets, and memes. Tweeting from his home in Southern California, he helped spread the Pizzagate conspiracy theory and has threatened to smear members of the Trump White House if Stephen Bannon is ever removed…
Still, members of Trump’s inner circle, and even his family members, have endorsed Cernovich’s posts. The White House has given him press credentials and he says he gets his information from West Wing officials, a claim supported by what he’s able to report and when he’s able to report it…
In response to questions about some of his statements that have proven false, and whether he allows people to respond to his allegations, Cernovich responded by saying: “You are a spokeswoman for globalist warmongers. You are the mouthpiece of death and destruction. Your fraudulent hit piece on me validates the strength of my work.”
Cernovich is not alone in going after NSC and other government staffers. Outlets, including Breitbart News and the Conservative Review, went on a rampage against government employees and so-called Obama holdovers in the early months of the Trump administration, as first documented by Politico in March…
Mike ‘Gorilla Mindset’ Cernovich, like Rush Limbaugh before him, is just a snake-oil huckster riling up the rubes because it sells better than his earlier ‘men’s rights’ bullshit. But this is straight-up Red Guard-style intimidation: Cross Dear Leader, and we’ll destroy you, wreck your life, kill your family. Once a few victims have been publicly abused, the Trumplodytes don’t even have to carry out their worst threats — fear of retaliation will, it’s assumed, make potential trouble-making bureaucrats and journalists censor themselves.
And Donald Trump, needless to say, thinks this is just great. Finally, the level of rageful blind admiration he’s always craved!
Late Night Horrorshow Open Thread: Another Step Towards Classical AutocracyPost + Comments (27)