Jump to content

Jack Posobiec

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 24.2.238.213 (talk) at 20:07, 9 December 2020 (Cleaned up references to Melania Sign incident getting to source of original claim (Buzzfeed)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Jack Posobiec
Posobiec in 2019
Born
John Michael Posobiec III

(1985-12-14) December 14, 1985 (age 38)
Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma materTemple University (BA)
Occupation(s)Political activist, news correspondent
EmployerOne America News Network
Political partyRepublican

John Michael Posobiec III (/pəˈsoʊbɪk/ pə-SOH-bik; born December 14, 1985)[1] is an American alt-right[2][3][4] political activist and conspiracy theorist[5] who is considered an Internet troll.[6][7][8][9] Posobiec is best known for his pro-Donald Trump comments on Twitter, as well as using white-supremacist and anti-semitic symbols and talking points, including the white genocide conspiracy theory.[10][11][12][13] He has promoted fake news, including the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory that high-ranking Democratic Party officials were involved in a child sex ring.[14] As of 2018, he was working as a correspondent for One America News Network, a far-right cable news television channel.[15]

Early life and education

Posobiec was born and raised in Norristown, Pennsylvania, to a family of Polish descent.[16] His parents were both Democrats.[7] He attended Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School[7] and then went to college at Temple University.[7] While at Temple, he became the chairman of the Temple University College Republicans and started a chapter of Students for Academic Freedom, an organization run by the David Horowitz Freedom Center.[7] He also participated in a summer internship for U.S. Senator Rick Santorum and volunteered for U.S. Representative Curt Weldon's unsuccessful reelection campaign in 2006.[7] He graduated from Temple in 2006[17] with a double major in political science and broadcast journalism.[18]

Career

After graduation, Posobiec worked for the United States Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, China.[7] He played a minor role in the film The Forbidden Kingdom, which was released in 2008.[16][7] He later worked for WPHT, a conservative talk radio station, and then for the campaign of Steve Johnson in the 2010 Pennsylvania lieutenant gubernatorial election; Johnson lost in the Republican primary.[7]

Posobiec served several tours in the Navy Reserve from 2010 to 2017, reaching the rank of lieutenant junior grade. He was deployed for a while at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, and also worked at the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), where he later worked again as a civilian.[19][16]

During the 2016 election, Posobiec was a special projects director of Citizens for Trump, a pro-Trump organization.[20]

In March 2017, Posobiec resigned from his full-time civilian position at ONI, saying that his support for Trump led to a "toxic work environment". As of August 2017, his security clearance was suspended[19] and was under review.[21]

Posobiec was employed from early April 2017 to May 2017 at Rebel News, as its Washington bureau chief.[20] He left after allegations were made that he had engaged in plagiarism.[7]

As of 2018, Posobiec was working as a correspondent for One America News Network, a conservative cable news television channel.[15]

Political activities

Posobiec describes himself as a "Republican political operative".[22] He said in 2017 that his work was "reality journalism—part investigative, part activist, part commentary",[23][24] and that "I'm willing to break the fourth wall. I'm willing to walk into an anti-Trump march and start chanting anti-Clinton stuff—to make something happen, and then cover what happens."[18] Will Sommer, an editor at The Hill, said in 2017 that Posobiec "make[s] stuff up, relentlessly", and that "there's no one at that level."[25]

During the 2016 election, Posobiec was a special projects director of the political organization Citizens for Trump.[20]

Buzzfeed News claims[26] that in November 2016 Posobiec led a campaign to discredit anti-Trump protesters by planting a sign at a protest reading "Rape Melania", citing as evidence alleged texts made by him and photographs of a man holding the sign which some claimed could be Posobiec[27], claims which were denied by Posobiec. Posobiec says he has been questioned about the incident by the Secret Service but that no credible evidence was established linking him to the sign.[7] Posobiec organized the DeploraBall, an event held on January 19, 2017, to celebrate Trump's inauguration.[28] In April and May 2017, Posobiec was a correspondent for The Rebel, a far-right Canada-based website,[20] and was granted press access to the White House in April 2017. According to Philadelphia magazine, during his short time in the White House press pool Posobiec "seems to have been charged in the press briefing room with haranguing legitimate journalists and running out the clock on press conferences with inane softball questions and Dear Leader obsequiousness." On June 16, 2017, Posobiec disrupted a Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar that depicted the title character as a President Trump-like figure. Posobiec was prompted by Mike Cernovich, another alt-right conspiracy theorist, who had offered a $1,000 prize for anyone who interrupted a performance.[29] Posobiec was escorted from the event along with fellow protester Laura Loomer, who was arrested for disorderly conduct after refusing to leave the stage.

Posobiec has supported other conservative political figures with similar tactics. He promoted e-mails and files leaked to 4chan of Emmanuel Macron shortly before the French presidential election in 2017.[20] Posobiec celebrated the leak at a party hosted by Milo Yiannopoulos. In October 2017, Posobiec and Cernovich formed a super PAC called #Rev18 and announced its support for Josh Mandel in the 2018 U.S. Senate election in Ohio.[30] In July 2017, Posobiec handed out flyers thanking Democratic senators for "protecting our quality violent porn content", including "ritual Satanic porn videos". The flyers were distributed outside the U.S. Senate at a demonstration in support of net neutrality.[31] Posobiec organized a "Rally Against Political Violence" in Washington, D.C. on June 25, 2017 to condemn the shooting of Scalise. Richard Spencer, another alt-right figure who organized a separate, competing rally at the same time, ridiculed Posobiec's event and called it "pathetic".[32] In November 2017, Posobiec encouraged his Twitter followers to target a woman at her workplace after she came forward with allegations that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore had attempted to have sex with her when she was 14 years old.[33] In Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district special election in March 2018, Posobiec supported Democrat Conor Lamb over Republican Rick Saccone. Posobiec described Lamb as a "Pro-Trump Dem veteran".[34]

Posobiec's social media and political activites are linked to white-supremacist movements. He has published multiple posts containing the white supremacist code "1488", or the Fourteen Words, and is a supporter of the slogan.[35][12][13] Posobiec has frequently tweeted about the racist and discredited white genocide conspiracy theory.[10][36] In October 2016, Posobiec posted a tweet that included triple parentheses, an anti-semitic symbol.[11] In August 2017, following a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that led to violent clashes between white nationalists and anti-protesters, Posobiec said that the rally had become "massive propaganda" for the left and that the mainstream media was "fanning the flames of this violence." He said that Trump should have disavowed Black Lives Matter. Posobiec later tweeted that he had consistently disavowed white nationalism and violence.[22] He also tweeted that he was "done with trolling" and that it was "time to do the right thing."

In May 2017, Posobiec hired neo-Nazi brothers Jeffrey and Edward Clark to help create a documentary about the murder of Seth Rich for Rebel News, a far-right Canada-based website for which Posobiec was working. Jeffrey Clark was arrested by the FBI on gun charges after saying that the Jewish victims of the October 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting "deserved exactly what happened to them and so much worse".[37] Posobiec later said that he had never heard of Jeffrey Clark and had never made a documentary about Seth Rich, even though HuffPost published photographs of Posobiec and the Clarks working together.[38][39] In June 2020, in Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Park, Posobiec was shoved and chased for several minutes by a dozen protesters at the Emancipation Memorial, which depicts an African American man kneeling at the feet of President Abraham Lincoln. The protesters called Posobiec, who was filming speakers, a Nazi and forced him from the park. Police arrived in a van and, after trying to quell the fracas, helped Posobiec into the van before driving away. Posobiec tweeted later that he was "totally fine" but "filing an assault report with DC police".[40][41]

Conspiracy theories, falsehoods, and unsubstantiated claims

Posobiec has promoted numerous falsehoods in his political activities,[42] leading to being called "King of Fake News" by Philadelphia in 2017.[7] He was one of the most prominent promoters on social media of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which falsely claimed that high-ranking officials were involved in a child-sex ring centered at a Washington, D.C. pizzeria.[7] He live-streamed an investigation of the pizzeria and was asked to leave after attempting to broadcast a child's birthday party being held in a back room.[43] Posobiec later said he had always thought the Pizzagate theory was "stupid" and had filmed his visit to debunk it.[7] In December 2016, Posobiec claimed without evidence that Disney had re-written scenes in the Star Wars movie Rogue One to add "Anti Trump scenes calling him a racist", and called for a boycott of the Star Wars franchise. Disney denied the allegations.[44] Posobiec falsely said that former FBI director James Comey, at a United States Senate hearing on May 17, 2017, "said under oath that Trump did not ask him to halt any investigation". The claim was later repeated by conservative personalities and media outlets, including Rush Limbaugh and the InfoWars website.[24] Posobiec promoted the discredited conspiracy theory that Seth Rich had leaked e-mails from the Democratic National Committee to WikiLeaks.[20] Posobiec promoted a hoax that CNN had published and then deleted an article defending Bill Maher's use of a racial slur.[45] In June 2017, shortly after Republican congressman Steve Scalise was shot during a baseball practice, Posobiec falsely tweeted that Loretta Lynch had previously called for "blood in the streets"[46] and that Bernie Sanders had ordered his followers to "take down" Trump.[47] In December 2017, Posobiec, along with Cernovich, The Gateway Pundit, and InfoWars, promoted a false theory that a passenger train derailment near Dupont, Washington, was linked to the Antifa anti-fascism movement.[48] In October 2019, after Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a White House national security official and decorated Iraq war veteran, testified in Congress about President Trump requesting that the Ukrainian President investigate his political rival Joe Biden, Posobiec falsely claimed that Vindman had been advising the Ukrainian government on ways to prevent Trump from implementing his foreign policy goals.[49] In June 2020, during the protests against racism and police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Posobiec falsely claimed that there were pipe bombs planted at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and that "federal assets [were] in pursuit". There were no pipe bombs nor was there any evidence that any "federal assets" investigated.[50]

Personal life

From 2012 to 2016, Posobiec ran a blog and podcast about Game of Thrones called AngryGoTFan.[16] Posobiec married Tanya Tay in November 2017.[51]

References

  1. ^ Posobiec, Jack. "I ask for but one thing on my birthday tomorrow..." Twitter. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  2. ^ Lewis, Becca; Marwik, Alice (June 13, 2017). "Megyn Kelly fiasco is one more instance of far right outmaneuvering media". Columbia Journalism Review. Archived from the original on June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  3. ^ Karma Allen (August 15, 2017). "Trump retweets alt-right activist who pushed 'Pizzagate' conspiracy". ABC News. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  4. ^ Cillizza, Chris (August 18, 2017). Donald Trump retweeted an alt-right conspiracy theorist. Here's why. Archived August 31, 2017, at the Wayback Machine CNN. Retrieved: August 31, 2017.
  5. ^ * Peters, Jeremy W. (June 10, 2017). "A Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theorist, a False Tweet and a Runaway Story". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  6. ^ Election Night from the Trump Hotel Archived January 30, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. Alex Thomas, Playboy, November 7, 2018
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Valania, Jonathan (September 16, 2017). "How Jack Posobiec Became the King of Fake News". Philadelphia. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  8. ^ Esposito, Stefano (August 15, 2017). "After blasting racism, Trump retweets alt-right post on Chicago crime". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  9. ^ Nguyen, Tina (March 1, 2018). ""Nonsensical," "Kooky," "Idiotic": The Far Right Seethes Over Trump's Second Amendment Flip-Flop". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Pro-Trump Bloggers Are Trying To Disown The Alt-Right Brand After Charlottesville". HuffPost. August 16, 2017. Archived from the original on September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  11. ^ a b Hayden, Michael Edison (January 25, 2018). "White Supremacist, Neo-Nazi Accounts Still Active on Twitter After a So-Called Purge". Newsweek. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  12. ^ a b "Florida State Rep. Wants Attacking "Political Affiliation" to Be Hate Crime". Miami New Times. September 28, 2017. Archived from the original on August 6, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  13. ^ a b Dean Obeidallah (August 15, 2019). "New York Young Republicans Flirt With the Racist Right". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  14. ^ Weisman, Jonathan (March 17, 2018). "Anti-Semitism Is Rising. Why Aren't American Jews Speaking Up?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  15. ^ a b Sperling, Nicole (July 20, 2018). "Disney Fires Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunn". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
  16. ^ a b c d Lamoureux, Mack (May 17, 2017). "How This 'Game of Thrones' Blogger Made His Way Into the White House". Vice.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  17. ^ Brennan, Kelly (August 15, 2017). "President Trump retweets far-right alumnus". The Temple News. Archived from the original on January 25, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  18. ^ a b Marantz, Andrew (May 7, 2017). "The Far-Right American Nationalist Who Tweeted #MacronLeaks". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  19. ^ a b Kube, Courtney (August 16, 2017). "Right-Winger Jack Posobiec, Retweeted by Trump, Is Navy Intel Officer". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  20. ^ a b c d e f Lytvynenko, Jane (May 29, 2017). "Pro-Trump Media Figure And Conspiracy Theory Peddler Jack Posobiec Is Out At The Rebel". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on June 10, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  21. ^ Watkins, Eli; Sciutto, Jim (August 16, 2017). "Security clearance under review for right-wing activist Trump retweeted". CNN. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  22. ^ a b Schmidt, Samantha (August 15, 2017). "Trump retweets right-wing provocateur known for pushing false conspiracy theories". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  23. ^ "Commentator who amplified Macron hacks given White House press access". May 12, 2017. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2019 – via www.reuters.com.
  24. ^ a b Peters, Jeremy W. (June 10, 2017). "A Pro-Trump Conspiracy Theorist, a False Tweet and a Runaway Story". Archived from the original on April 23, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
  25. ^ Oppenheim, Maya (January 15, 2018). "Donald Trump retweets far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec who took 'rape Melania' sign to rally". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  26. ^ Bernstein, Joseph. "Inside The Alt-Right's Campaign To Smear Trump Protesters As Anarchists". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved December 9, 2020. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ Bernstein, Joseph. "Inside The Alt-Right's Campaign To Smear Trump Protesters As Anarchists". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved December 9, 2020. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  28. ^ Weiner, Rachel (December 15, 2016). "Clarendon Ballroom gets harassing calls after declining to host Trump backers' 'DeploraBall'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  29. ^ Wang, Amy B (June 17, 2017). "Pro-Trump protester arrested after rushing stage at controversial 'Julius Caesar' production in New York". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  30. ^ Koff, Stephen (October 2, 2017). "Backing Josh Mandel, controversial figures launch super PAC". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on November 5, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  31. ^ Collins, Ben (July 12, 2017). "Alt-Right Claims Net Neutrality Promotes 'Satanic Porn' in Planted Flyers". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  32. ^ Resnick, Gideon (June 25, 2017). "Alt-Right Boss Attacks Trump's 'Repulsive and Creepy' Fanboys". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  33. ^ "Roy Moore's accuser's photo and workplace were spread on Twitter by a far-right conspiracist". Newsweek. November 10, 2017. Archived from the original on November 12, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  34. ^ Nguyen, Tina (March 13, 2018). ""The G.O.P. Is Full of Morons": Even the Pro-Trump World Gave Up on Rick Saccone". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on March 14, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  35. ^ "Replying to @JackPosobiec". Cody Johnston (journalist). July 24, 2018. Archived from the original on February 5, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  36. ^ "Trump Retweets Alt-Right Leader Who Has Praised White Supremacist Richard Spencer". Newsweek. August 15, 2017. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  37. ^ Zadrozny, Brandy (November 14, 2018). "The FBI said he called the Pittsburgh shooting 'a dry run.' But he was talking about a different attack". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  38. ^ "DC Neo-Nazi Who Said Pittsburgh Victims 'Deserved' It Arrested; Has Deep Ties To 'Alt-Right'". The Huffington Post. November 14, 2018. Archived from the original on November 14, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  39. ^ Weill, Kelly (November 14, 2018). "Clark Brothers Accused of Planning Race War Followed Alt-Right Heroes". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on May 10, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  40. ^ Williams, Clarence; Natanson, Hannah (June 26, 2020). "Arguments break out by statue of Abraham Lincoln in D.C. park". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  41. ^ Mann, Ted (June 26, 2020). "Lincoln Statue Still Stands in Washington, D.C., for Now". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  42. ^ Oppenheim, Maya (January 15, 2018). "Donald Trump retweets far-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec who took 'rape Melania'm sign to rally". The Independent. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  43. ^ Fisher, Marc; Cox, John Woodrow; Hermann3, Peter (December 6, 2016). "Pizzagate: From rumor, to hashtag, to gunfire in D.C." The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  44. ^ Nickalls, Sammy (December 8, 2016). "Now Trump Supporters Are Boycotting Star Wars Based on No Evidence". Esquire. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  45. ^ Evon, Dan (June 5, 2017). "Did CNN Delete an Article Defending Bill Maher's Use of a Racial Slur?". Snopes.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  46. ^ Whelan, Aubrey (June 18, 2017). "Tracing right-wing alt-reality on Twitter". Philly.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  47. ^ Shalby, Colleen (June 14, 2017). "How fake news starts: Trump supporters tie Bernie Sanders to Alexandria shooting using a fake quote". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  48. ^ Hayden, Michael Edison (December 18, 2017). "Antifa' Falsely Linked to Amtrak Train Derailment by Right-Wing Conspiracy Peddlers". Newsweek. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  49. ^ Grynbaum, Michael M.; Alba, Davey (October 29, 2019). "After Vindman's Testimony Went Public, Right-Wing Conspiracies Fired Up". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  50. ^ Sommer, Will (2020). "Infamous Pizzagater Jack Posobiec Pushed Hoax About Pipe Bombs Being Planted at Korean War Memorial". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  51. ^ Notopoulos, Katie (January 24, 2018). "Bumble Just Kicked Off A Pro-Trump Media Personality As Part Of Its "Stance Against Hate"". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_Posobiec&oldid=993282309"