A group of spirited Reddit users known anti-media and racist rants is reportedly responsible for a video of Donald Trump beating up a man whose head was replaced by the CNN logo.
According to reports, a subreddit called The_Donald is taking credit for clip that the president tweeted from his account Sunday morning. Some say the user in the reddit group also originated an edited clip of a 2007 video Trump beating up World Wrestling Federation mogul Vince McMahon during a staged WWE production. The_Donald is also known for making anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic and other racist comments.
Trump’s Sunday tweet drew a rash of criticism, which continued to permeate as links to the controversial Reddit group began to surface. Even users of the group tweeted claims that Trump shares their views, however, Trump has never publicly admitted to being a racist. That did not stop the group from calling for the president to bolster financial support of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The president has not replied directly to the subreddit, but did f0llow up the CNN video tweet with a string of others, one indicating that his Twitter barrage since taking office marks a new White House trend.
“My use of social media is not Presidential – it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!” he tweeted Sunday afternoon.
Trump Shares Fan Video of Himself Literally Fighting Back Against CNN https://t.co/tpBWDnUxpX (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/VWLG7w1rSi
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) July 2, 2017
As expected, Trump continued to assail CNN, jesting that he would change the network’s name from “#FakeNewsCNN to #FraudNewsCNN.” The messages were re-tweeted more around 100,000 times as of this report.
Sunday’s drama is not the first incident in which Trump has indirectly associated himself with alt-right groups. Multitudes of supporters claiming the president ascribes to their racist beliefs attended his campaign rallies, some of whom became involved in verbal and physical confrontations with supporters of Democrats Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders.
Why pro wrestling is the perfect metaphor for Donald Trump’s presidency | Analysis by @CillizzaCNN https://t.co/1DmBpeh0W8 pic.twitter.com/LcJo06BG9u
— CNN (@CNN) July 2, 2017
Trump has long claimed CNN was behind a false narrative to connect members of his campaign and own family of colluding with Russian intelligence officials to rig last Novembers presidential election. The president has continued to deny any connection to Russia. Last week, CNN accepted resignations of three journalists, including an editor, who published a story citing a single anonymous source about a Russian investment fund with alleged ties to the president. The story was later retracted.
Meanwhile, the president continues to claim the media is trying to convince the GOP that he should not use social media.
[Featured Image by Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Images]