When you’ve lost Pepe …
by digby
Gosh, this looks bad for Trumpie:
Right-wing troll Mike Cernovich took to Periscope to announce that he’s doing “a big pivot” away from “being a pro-Trump guy.” Cernovich enthusiastically supported President Donald Trump throughout the presidential campaign and in the first tumultuous months of the administration, but now says that “backing Trump has been bad for business,” and he will “specifically reject any kind of branding about pro-Trump or whatever.”
In a 46-minute rant on July 31, Cernovich expressed his dismay at the firing of (now former) White House Communications Director Anthony “the Mooch” Scaramucci. Cernovich, like many of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) trolls who fester in the alternative media environment and who rose to notoriety with Trump’s ascent to the White House, was a big fan of “the Mooch” from the start. However, more notably, Cernovich also declared that he has “pivoted from a pro-Trump guy to more of a journalistic guy” and that he’s going to continue making that pivot. It should be noted that Cernovich’s concept of journalism — which he describes as “part activism and part real journalism” — includes pushing baseless rumors about former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s health, promoting fake conspiracy theories, denying date rape exists, and generally making false, provocative statements, like “Bill Clinton is a rapist,” in an effort to garner a reaction and generate what he calls “news.”
In his Periscope broadcast (promoted by WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange), Cernovich confused what he called “basic game theory” with cost-benefit analysis, saying “there is no upside” to “getting Trump’s message out.” He also said that supporting Trump was “bad for business,” as his book on Trump “sold way less than” his Gorilla Mindset book (a non-scientific self-help book that aims to teach young men how to channel their “mindset” to look better, make money, and pick up women, among other things).
I guess wingnut welfare isn’t what it used to be …