Two members of Donald Trump’s inner circle shared memes on social media over the weekend featuring a symbol popular with the white nationalist alt-right.
Riffing off of Hillary Clinton’s remark that some of Trump’s supporters are racists, misogynists, and xenophobes who belong in a “basket of deplorables,” the meme shared by Donald Trump Jr. and Trump ally Roger Stone showed key Trump allis photoshopped onto a poster from the move “The Expendables.” In the edited poster for “The Deplorables,” those armed staffers and Trump boosters are shown alongside Pepe the Frog, a cartoon figure that first cropped up on the 4chan website and has since become associated with the white supremacist movement online.
Trump, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), Ben Carson, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and alt-right figurehead Milo Yiannopoulos were among those in included in the image.
“Apparently I made the cut as one of the Deplorables,” Trump Jr. wrote on Instagram in a caption accompanying the meme, saying he was “honored” to be grouped among Trump’s supporters.
Informal Trump advisor Roger Stone shared the same image on Twitter, saying he was “so proud to be one of the Deplorables.”
I am so proud to be one of the Deplorables #Trump2016 pic.twitter.com/IFD1hfC60w
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) September 10, 2016
Pepe the Frog has emerged as an unofficial mascot of the alt-right, a loosely defined group of white nationalists who congregate online to debate IQ differences between the races and joke about burning Jewish journalists in ovens.
Last fall, Trump himself shared a meme featuring himself as president Pepe. He has retweeted users with handles like @WhiteGenocideTM on multiple occasions.
“@codyave: @drudgereport @BreitbartNews @Writeintrump “You Can’t Stump the Trump” https://t.co/0xITB7XeJV pic.twitter.com/iF6S05se2w“
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2015
Trump has disavowed support from the alt-right and white supremacists like former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, though he hired Steve Bannon, chairman of the alt-right promoting Breitbart News, as his campaign CEO in August.
Clinton has argued that Trump has mainstreamed extremist, racist views with his comments on immigration and minorities. She gave a speech shortly after Bannon was hired linking Trump’s campaign to the “radical fringe.”
Funny, I don’t think she mentioned any names…
But enjoy your fame, ‘Junior’.
Hopefully you won’t share the same fate of someone like Augustin Robespierre.
Was it Uday or Qusay Drumpf? I always get them mixed up when they have their white hoods on.
Cute how they take after dear old dad, though.
Forgive me, but tRuMp JUniOr thinks this is a good thing? Wow. I guess I don’t get it. The only meme I see is that dumb frog.
What’s obvious is the apple doesn’t fall from the tree. No. Actually, the apple never fell out of the tree. He’s still hung up in daddy’s tree limbs, rotting on the branch.
So Trump Jr and surrogates admit they are deplorable, so why the r/w outrage and the apology demand?
Because facts make their heads hurt.