"The third right-wing influencer Trump was likely referencing as being on the receiving end of alleged antifa attacks was Andy Ngo, another Post Millennial blogger and right-wing influencer, who was also in attendance on Wednesday. Ngo has spent years attending protests across the country filming them and defining the right-wing narrative of antifa as a domestic terrorist threat. Ngo has spent years targeting Mark Bray, a Rutgers historian and author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook."
"Samuel Woolley, a researcher who studies digital propaganda at the University of Pittsburgh, believes the blurring of lines between state messaging and influencer content serves a strategic purpose. "Politicians and government officials will use influencers as a means to legitimize either the information they're spreading or the actions they're taking," he says. "Oftentimes, influencers are now used to create the illusion of popularity for particular ideas to manufacture consensus around those ideas.""
Andy Ngo attended the event and has spent years filming protests while framing antifa as a domestic terrorist threat. Ngo repeatedly targeted Mark Bray, a Rutgers historian and author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, and social media posts by right-wing influencers contributed to death threats that prompted Bray to try to flee the US. Researchers note a strategic blurring between state messaging and influencer content, with politicians using influencers to legitimize information and manufacture consensus. Clips shared by creators are reposted widely and sometimes broadcast on television, creating a reinforcing feedback loop.
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