A caravan of pro-Trump vehicles

AFP News Agency/YouTube

Pro-Trump group organizing rides to election protest gets trolled

Trolls are flooding 'Patriot Caravans for 45' with memes and mockery.

 

Mikael Thalen

Tech

Posted on Dec 22, 2020   Updated on Dec 22, 2020, 3:25 pm CST

An online group aimed at helping supporters of President Donald Trump find rides to election protests has already been taken over by trolls.

Known as Patriot Caravans for 45, the group, hosted on the little-known right-wing social media site CloutHub, began picking up steam on Tuesday after being promoted by former 8kun administrator Ron Watkins.

The group’s main focus is funneling as many Trump supporters as possible to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election while Congress meets to formally count the votes of the Electoral College.

The protest, which Trump himself endorsed just last week, is being hailed by his supporters as the latest surefire way to overturn the election after countless other conspiratorial predictions failed to materialize.

But the carpooling group is already being bombarded by internet trolls both mocking and posing as Trump fans.

One user in particular, known simply as Freedomfighter1234, has relentlessly posted in the group despite having most of his remarks deleted.

A post on CloutHub
Freedomfighter1234/CloutHub

In remarks to the Daily Dot, Freedomfighter1234 kept the trolling going and claimed to be a “patriot” doing “God’s work to join caravans wherever they need me.”

“I have recruited 3.14 people and have been offered a sandwich,” they said. “People here are very kind and do not smell at all.”

Other trolls mocked CloutHub’s CEO Jeff Brain, who seemingly didn’t realize that users could simply rejoin the group even after being kicked out.

A post on CloutHub
Freedomfighter1234/CloutHub

Another troll, RoudeyFr, told the Daily Dot that they had joined CloutHub after seeing it promoted on Twitter.

“Figured it’d be a fun diversion for a bit,” they said.

The popular Twitter account known as Coping MAGA, which details how Trump supporters are coping with the president’s election loss, helped drive trolls to the page.

“Wow, we should totally help out this Trump canvassing effort by signing up with our completely legitimate sign up information,” Coping MAGA said sarcastically.

RoudeyFr said they have been offering rides to D.C. on a fictitious horse named “Mario Lopez,” although Trump supporters aren’t exactly buying it.

“If any patriots in Virginia want to horsepool with me let me know, my horse sits 3 to 4,” RoudeyFr said.

A post on CloutHub
RoudeyFr/CloutHub

Although the effort is unlikely to discourage Trump fans from heading to the nation’s capitol, the effort is indicative of a wider grassroots trolling campaign against the president and his supporters.

Organization efforts for the “Million MAGA March” last month were similarly disrupted by K-Pop fans on Twitter who flooded the event’s hashtag with pictures of pancakes.

TikTok users also mass-reserved tickets for a Trump rally held in Tusla last June with the intention of not actually showing up.


Read more of the Daily Dot’s tech and politics coverage

Nevada’s GOP secretary of state candidate follows QAnon, neo-Nazi accounts on Gab, Telegram
Court filing in Bored Apes lawsuit revives claims founders built NFT empire on Nazi ideology
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Say hi to the Donald for us’: Florida police briefed armed right-wing group before they went to Jan. 6 protest
Inside the Proud Boys’ ties to ghost gun sales
‘Judas’: Gab users are furious its founder handed over data to the FBI without a subpoena
EXCLUSIVE: Anti-vax dating site that let people advertise ‘mRNA FREE’ semen left all its user data exposed
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
Share this article
*First Published: Dec 22, 2020, 3:16 pm CST