Alt-Right and Others Falsely Claiming Man Who Created GIF of Trump Beating Up ‘CNN’ Is a 15-Year Old Boy
The man who created the GIF President Donald Trump posted to Twitter, depicting Trump pummeling “CNN,” has been located by the news network and he has apologized. Trump posted the image on Saturday, leading many to denounce the president’s promotion of violence and his attack on the media – something he now does almost daily.Â
“Now the user is apologizing,” CNN reports, referring to the Reddit user who calls himself “HanAssholeSolo,” “writing in a lengthy post on Reddit that he does not advocate violence against the press and expressing remorse there and in an interview with CNN for other posts he made that were racist and anti-Semitic.”
He explained that his “meme was created purely as satire, it was not meant to be a call to violence against CNN or any other news affiliation.”
“I had no idea anyone would take it and put sound to it and then have it put up on the President’s Twitter feed,” he wrote.
“I would like to apologize to the members of the reddit community for getting this site and this sub embroiled in a controversy that should never have happened,” he also said. “I would also like to apologize for the posts made that were racist, bigoted, and anti-semitic. I am in no way this kind of person, I love and accept people of all walks of life and have done so for my entire life. I am not the person that the media portrays me to be in real life, I was trolling and posting things to get a reaction from the subs on reddit and never meant any of the hateful things I said in those posts. I would never support any kind of violence or actions against others simply for what they believe in, their religion, or the lifestyle they choose to have. Nor would I carry out any violence against anyone based upon that or support anyone who did.”
CNN also explained to readers why the network chose to not identify the man by name, which they have every right to do.
“CNN is not publishing ‘HanA**holeSolo’s’ name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same,” CNN wrote. “CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.”
It is that last sentence that threw Trump’s supporters, including the “alt-right,” into convulsions. All CNN said is they reserve the right to do what they had the right to do in the first place but chose not to.
Donald Trump Jr. is one of those leading the charge, using the #CNNBlackmail hashtag that’s now trending on Twitter, and falsely identifying the man who created the GIF as a 15-year old.
CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski, an investigative journalist who wrote the article, makes clear the Reddit user is not 15, but an adult:
But on the far right facts don’t matter.
Alt-right leader and and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich is another who chose to spread false information, retweeting dozens of attacks on CNN, and posting a personal attack on Kaczynski, whose Twitter handle is @KFILE:
Another alt-right figure, Alex Jones’ Infowars editor:
Again, the Reddit user is not a child.
WikiLeaks founder thinks he has the moral authority to lecture about journalism:
Drudge Report, where many conservatives and many on the far right get much of their news, offers up this misleading headline:
Even a GOP Congressman:
Others on Twitter:
There are many more under the #CNNBlackmail hashtag, but many too offensive to post here.Â
RELATED:
President of the United States Posts Video of Himself Physically Assaulting CNN Logo
To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.Â