The Right Stuff (blog)
The Right Stuff is a neo-Nazi,[1][2] Holocaust denial,[3] and white nationalist[4] conspiracy theory media website that hosts a blog and discussion forum, as well as various podcasts, including TDS, formerly called The Daily Shoah. Founded by antisemitic conspiracy theorist Mike Peinovich (better known as Mike Enoch), the blog has popularized the use of "echoes", an antisemitic marker which uses triple parentheses around names used to identify Jews on social media.[5][6][7]
The Right Stuff | |
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Presentation | |
Genre | Neo-Nazism Conspiracy theories about Jews Race hatred |
Created by | Mike Peinovich |
Publication | |
Original release | December 2012 – present |
Website | therightstuff |
Part of a series on |
Antisemitism |
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Category |
Part of the Politics and elections and Politics series on |
Neo-fascism |
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Politics portal |
Across its various platforms, TRS and its personalities spread racial hatred, advocate racial discrimination, and promote conspiracy theories about Jews and their supposed plots to use the media, the banking system, and the pornography industry to manipulate and harm white people.
Content and views
The site promotes white supremacy,[8] neo-Nazism,[9] antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and the white genocide conspiracy theory.[4] It cites the work of Kevin B. MacDonald, a former professor of psychology and antisemitic conspiracy theorist, known for claiming there is a Jewish plot to control the world to undermine the interest of white people.[10]
Much TRS content is devoted to Holocaust denial, as well as denying genocidal Nazi policies against Poles, Russians, and other Slavic "Untermenschen". To justify their denial of Nazi atrocities, TRS hosts promote the conspiracy theory that the documentary record establishing these genocides was forged by unspecified Jews or agents of Jews.[3]
Blog and overview
In December 2012, The Right Stuff described itself as "a political and cultural blog" which aimed to unite the "alt right" and troll liberals and progressives.[11] Over time, the podcast grew more radical,[12] and adopted a conspiratorial neo-Nazi ideology.[12] The blog also developed (and still maintains) a lexicon defining jargon used by its publications as well as the wider alt-right movement.[13] The website achieved general notice through the popularization of the Triple parentheses or (((echo))). In 2014 the show began to use a distortion effect when names of Jewish individuals were mentioned during its segment "Merchant Minute". The meme was adapted to text through use of parentheses, and in the summer of 2016 it became popularly known through a New York Times column on the topic.[14]
The Right Stuff was one of the first websites to make use of the term "cuckservative", long before the epithet attracted mainstream attention.[15][8] In addition, the blog was an early proponent of propaganda film With Open Gates, which attacks multiculturalism and Middle Eastern refugees in Europe, and promotes the conspiracy theory that Jews are bringing the refugees in order to harm white people.[16][17]
Doxing incident
In early 2017, Mike Peinovich, the founder of The Right Stuff who had for years operated under the pseudonym Mike Enoch, was doxxed by fellow neo-Nazis, who released biographical information about him that contradicted his professed ideology.[18][19] The dox revealed that Peinovich's own wife was Jewish, and that their wedding had featured traditional Jewish rites and chanting. As a neo-Nazi, Peinovich was also mocked upon the revelation of his Serbian surname, in light of Nazi Germany's racial classification of Serbs as subhumans ("Untermenschen"), and the genocide of Serbs perpetrated by the Croatian Ustaše puppet regime.[20]
After the doxxing, some followers of Peinovich reacted angrily to the information that had been revealed. They circulated forged images of him and his wife which portrayed their ethnicities in a negative or mocking way.[9] Various other neo-Nazis speculated that Peinovich was a federal agent, Jewish, or was otherwise disingenuous in his belief system.
After initially telling private members that he would be leaving the website, it was later announced that Peinovich and his wife were separated, and that he would retain his role with TRS.[21] In the years since the incident, he has continued to play a leading role on the website and its podcasts.
National Justice Party
In August 2020, The Right Stuff announced the establishment of a white supremacist political party called the National Justice Party led by Peinovich, with a platform based upon the white genocide conspiracy theory. The chairmen of the party include a number of prominent white supremacist and alt-right figures, including Joseph Jordan (also known as Eric Striker), Tony Hovater, Michael McKevitt, Gregory Conte, Warren Balogh and Alan Balogh.[4]
See also
References
- Marantz, Andrew (October 9, 2017). "Birth of a White Supremacist". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- Hayden, Michael Edison (May 1, 2018). "Anonymous white nationalists may have their identities exposed by a Charlottesville lawsuit". Newsweek. Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- Andrew Marantz, Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation, 2019, pp. 275-314
- Graves, Howard; Hayden, Michael Edison (August 21, 2020). "White Nationalist Organization Forms Racist, Antisemitic Political Party". Retrieved November 15, 2020.
- Fleishman, Cooper; Smith, Anthony (June 1, 2016). "(((Echoes))), Exposed: The Secret Symbol Neo-Nazis Use to Target Jews Online". Mic. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- Joshua Eaton (June 6, 2016). "Secret Neo-Nazi Message on Social Media: (((Echoes))) - Anti-Semitism". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- "Anti-Zionist Chrome extension highlighted Jews for attack online". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- Weigel, David (July 29, 2015). "'Cuckservative' – the conservative insult of the month, explained". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
- Lisi, Brian (January 17, 2017). "Neo-Nazi blog struggles after founder's wife identified as Jewish". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
- "Kevin MacDonald" (PDF). Anti-Defamation League. November 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
- "About Us". The Right Stuff. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- Wilson, Jason (August 23, 2016). "A sense that white identity is under attack': making sense of the alt-right". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- Krieg, Gregory (August 25, 2016). "Clinton is attacking the 'Alt-Right' – What is it?". CNN. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- Yglesias, Matthew (June 6, 2016). "The (((echo))), explained". Vox.
- Hatewatch Staff (August 7, 2015). "Getting Cucky: A Brief Primer On The Radical Right's Newest 'Cuckservative' Meme". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- Mayo, Marilyn (November 23, 2015). ""With Open Gates": Racist Anti-Refugee Video Goes Viral". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on June 23, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
- Neiwert, David (2017). Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump. Brooklyn, NY: Verso Books. p. 251. ISBN 9781786634238.
- Sheffield, Matthew. "The alt-right eats its own: Neo-Nazi podcaster "Mike Enoch" quits after doxxers reveal his wife is Jewish". Salon.
- "White supremacist outed for having Jewish wife". The Times of Israel. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
- Andrew Marantz, Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation, 2019, pp 275-314
- Seventh Son (January 17, 2017). "The Sorta Shoah". The Right Stuff. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.