The third right-wing influencer that Trump was likely referring to as the target of the alleged antifa attacks was Andy Ngo, another Post-millennial right-wing blogger and influencer, also present on Wednesday. Ngo spent years attending protests across the country, filming them and framing Antifa’s right-wing narrative as a domestic terrorist threat. Ngo spent years targeting Mark Bray, Rutgers historian and author of Antifa: the anti-fascist manual. Following social media posts from a number of right-wing influencers, including Ngo, Bray is now trying to flee the United States after receiving death threats.
Samuel Woolley, a researcher who studies digital propaganda at the University of Pittsburgh, says blurring the lines between state messaging and influencer content serves a strategic purpose. “Politicians and government officials will use influencers to legitimize either the information they disseminate or the actions they take,” he says. “Often, influencers are now used to create the illusion of popularity of particular ideas in order to create consensus around those ideas.”
The feedback loop created by these influencers and exploited by the Trump administration is perfectly illustrated by Johnson’s own X account. Johnson, a right-wing creator and former Turning Point USA contributor, shared clips from his trip to Portland with Noem, including video of the secretary praying at the start of a meeting and later questioning someone who was believed to be an immigrant in the back of a government vehicle. From there, these clips are reposted and shared by other right-wing creators and sometimes shown on TV news. In that case, Johnson was interviewed Wednesday by Newsmax about his experience in Portland.
“Kristi Noem had to walk around the premises with men in bulletproof vests by her side, because the left is so violent here. Every time we went or left, the left-wing protesters had to be cleared from the streets,” Johnson said on Newsmax. “They spat on the vehicles. They shouted at us.”
These creators were among the few media figures allowed to tour Portland ICE facilities. On Wednesday, The Oregonian reported that its journalists were denied access to the facility despite being granted access to several conservative and creative media outlets. The newspaper first requested access on September 25. Eight days later, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin filmed a report on the roof of the facility. The newspaper’s journalists tried again on October 6, without obtaining a response. Three days earlier, Daviscourt had visited the building.
“They can be used as a channel to spread fabricated stories or to spread particular propaganda messages,” Woolley says of these right-wing creators. “They are incredibly powerful.”
The Trump administration has created a seamless loop of policy-inspiring content and new policy-inspiring content as the government conducts its own justification in real time. First comes the boots on the ground. Next comes the content. Rinse and repeat.
