Dispatch from Bizarroworld

Dispatch from Bizarroworld

by digby



That is not an SNL sketch. It's where the most powerful man in the world gets his information.


Buzzfeed:

The rumour started with a video posted in September that warned viewers about an "upcoming civil war." It was posted by Jordan Peltz, who works for the private company US Warrant Service and maintained a Facebook page that had a profile picture of donkey wearing a Nazi armband. Peltz also has a website called Nazi-donkeys.com.

Anti-Trump protests were planned from Nov. 4 onward by Refuse Fascism, but the group told BuzzFeed News that the protests are meant to be non-violent. No "antifa" group has called for violence online during the Nov. 4 protests.

"What they're saying is completely false," Taylor said. "They’re blatant lies, and they’re creating and intending to intimidate people who want to stand up to the Trump/Pence regime. It's concerning that these lies are being spread and that they're unleashing threats."

The "antifa apocalypse" and "antifa overthrow" ideas were then baselessly perpetuated by right-wing websites like InfoWars and the Gateway Pundit.

The false narrative gained more and more popularity as it was being repeated. Right Richer, a newsletter written by The Hill editor Will Sommer, even noted fabricated campaign posters and InfoWars sold Nov. 4 swag.

Many publications picked up on the claims to debunk them, including Time, Snopes, Washington Post, and BuzzFeed News. However, the Fox News report put more weight on the false claims of pro-Trump commentators. "Antifa apocalypse? Anarchist group's plan to overthrow Trump 'regime' starts Saturday," says the headline. The Fox News article already has 46,000 shares, comments, and likes on Facebook according to social tracking tool BuzzSumo. Fox News didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.