Sarah Palin Under Fire for Tweeting White Supremacist Dog Whistle
Is She to Blame?
Sarah Palin on Friday posted a tweet containing a phrase that has very strong white supremacist ties. It turns out, the website that published the article she linked to is more to blame than she is, but why she chose to post it is a valid question.
“Trump Gives Speech to the People of Poland, Says 14 Words That Leave Americans Stunned,” Palin tweeted, with a link to a far right wing website, Young Conservatives, from which she regularly posts links.Â
Trump Gives Speech to the People of Poland, Says 14 Words That Leave Americans Stunned https://t.co/8iKHEQemn9
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) July 7, 2017
Twitter saw “14 words” and many understandably freaked out.
Why?
Here’s what “14 words,” or just “14” means to white supremacists:Â “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”
Yup, pretty nasty – in fact, filthy and disgusting – neo-Nazi dogwhistle stuff.
“The term reflects the primary white supremacist worldview in the late 20th and early 21st centuries: that unless immediate action is taken, the white race is doomed to extinction by an alleged ‘rising tide of color’ purportedly controlled and manipulated by Jews,” the Anti-Defamation League notes on its website.
Here’s how some responded:
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes references another white supremacist dog whistle, “88”:
Looking forward to Sarah Palin’s 88 tattoo.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 7, 2017
“88” is shorthand for “Heil Hitler,” the ADL also notes, “H” being the eighth letter of the alphabet.
Others made this observation:
“14 words” doesn’t appear anywhere in the link, and if you don’t already know the significance, see https://t.co/S4fvmSMEcP https://t.co/o8IIYxStw1
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) July 7, 2017
Some more responses, some of which Raw Story also noted:
The Daily Beast’s Ben Collins:
Two options
—Too ignorant to know “14 Words” is an extremely prominent white supremacist slogan
—Knowlingly tweeted white supremacist slogan https://t.co/g7IWkoCxIr— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) July 7, 2017
An AV Club writer:
Boy, @SarahPalinUSA, self-proclaimed Nazis are really loving your white supremacist tweet. You must be so proud.
— Dennis Perkins (@DennisPerkins5) July 7, 2017
More:
I did Nazi that coming!
— Paddington Bear (@RoguePaddington) July 7, 2017
I had to spend several minutes googling what the hell everyone was talking about. Not everyone keeps up with white supremacist lingo…
— Sean (@goliathmeadow) July 7, 2017
Fourteen Words, Sarah?
Literal White Supremacy, Sarah? Come on.
This can’t be good for your brand
— Ian Rickert (@IanRickert) July 7, 2017
So you’re just a flat out racist? Or are you hoping for a good job in the upcoming Nazi regime? https://t.co/TAF21vMcZJ
— Craig Beilinson (@cbeilinson) July 7, 2017
Wow this is so wrong. Why mention 14 words when the article says nothing about 14 words. She’s not trying to hide racism at this point.
— dhirenman (@dhirenman) July 7, 2017
The Daily Beast’s Andrew Kirell has the scoop on what happened, reporting, “the answer for her social-media captions more realistically lies in the Young Conservative website’s backend.”
Kirell adds, “one astute Twitter user pointed out that the manually selected Facebook caption—which automatically comes up when a user clicks the ‘Share’ button on YoungCon’s website—contains the ’14 words’ reference.”
Here’s the screenshot of the article’s source code.
It’s the website’s settings Facebook share setting. pic.twitter.com/BTd6OLb8Oq
— John Kirrane (@johnkirrane) July 7, 2017
The Daily Beast adds that the “article’s author, Warner Todd Huston, is a contributor to Breitbart, the self-proclaimed ‘platform for the alt-right‘ once led by current top White House strategist Steve Bannon.”
So, the question becomes, first, why didn’t Palin think before posting – it’s her brand, her name, in every tweet she posts. She’s responsible for what she’s saying.
And second, why did the Young Conservatives website have a white supremacist (and click-baity) phrase in its social sharing code?
Who knows, but here’s screenshot of a Young Conservatives article from December:
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