One of the few issues uniting the loose coalition of meme obsessed right-wingers; ethno-national, white supremacists; and other fringe political camps we’ve come to know as the alt-right has been the sentiment that America’s protracted wars in the Middle East were a grave misstep. Many Trump supporters I’ve spoken to went so far as to say they threw their effort behind the Republican ticket for fear that Clinton would certainly lead the US to war.
Image: AP Photo/Seth Wenig, modified by Bryan Menegus
Earlier today, Donald Trump launched 60 tomahawk missiles at an air base in Syria.
Despite plummeting approval ratings (35 per cent, currently) and a GOP rapidly distancing itself from his unhinged policy proposals, Trump’s most ardent supporters have remained steadfast — buoyed by anonymous imageboards, Twitter ecelebrities, a healthy dose of faked fervour from bot nets, and a dedicated subreddit which bans dissenting views. They spun positive narratives out of a cabinet which has habitually lied to the public, and a president who has followed through on none of his campaign promises. With this airstrike — which some already speculate will lead to a full-scale war — even these zealots who believe they memed the man into the world’s most powerful office can’t find a speck of good news buried under the rubble.
His ecelebrity cohorts have turned tail, including former men’s rights activist Mike Cernovich, #TrumpCup creator and ex-Buzzfeed employee Baked Alaska, The Rebel mouthpiece Jack Posobiec, white nationalist and living meme Richard Spencer, and Paul Joseph Watson of Infowars fame. All have tweeted voluminously in support of Trump for months. Earlier today, many also supported the theory that the gas attack in Syria was faked, and are now coming to grips with a very real missile strike.
Trump’s base of support is gone if he goes to war with Syria, the same people who betrayed before election will betray him again.
— Mike Cernovich ?? (@Cernovich) April 7, 2017
We don’t want war in Syria!! Don’t believe the #SyriaHoax, we need to focus on our own country right now. America First.
— Baked Alaska™ (@bakedalaska) April 6, 2017
I’m a veteran Navy intelligence officer and I couldn’t be more opposed to the US escalating war in Syria this recklessly
— Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) April 7, 2017
The #AltRight is against a war in Syria. Period. We want good relations with Bashar al-Assad, and we urge Trump to halt the rush to war.
— Richard ? Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) April 6, 2017
Toppling a secular government and opening the gates of hell for ISIS to take over the Middle East is my “red line”.
Stop this catastrophe.
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) April 7, 2017
Reddit’s r/the_donald, which famously bans users for posts which in any way question Trump, is beginning to crack. The top comment on a thread linking to the Associated Press report of the attack is merely the word “fuck”. Below it, other “centipedes” (as Reddit’s Trump base refer to themselves) express confusion and regret, asking, “Did… did we just fuck up? I have no clue if this is just a ploy to confuse everyone or if he’s seriously going after Assad,” and, “This is one of the chief reasons I voted against Clinton. Fucking hell.”
Even 4chan’s “politically incorrect” imageboard (/pol/), where any anti-Trump posters were accused of being “shills” — for literally anything from Hillary, to David Brock, Zionists, Russians, or the “globalist elite” — have run out of stamina for mental gymnastics. Almost every thread on /pol/ currently is about these missile strikes, and the majority of the site’s anonymous users appear to be disappointed, angry or terrified of the prospect of broader warfare in the region.
Image: /pol/’s catalogue of top threads currently. Most of the responses are negative.
Trump is showing his true colours, and the people who took outsized credit for electing him are now feeling the overwhelming regret of being duped. In makes you wonder, where did Trump’s troll army get the idea he was against military intervention in Syria in the first place?
Don’t attack Syria – an attack that will bring nothing but trouble for the U.S. Focus on making our country strong and great again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2013