schlichter, kurt townhall

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media its bewARE

The Pentagon has secretly hired military veterans with massive online followings to act as conservative influencers who can disseminate Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s warrior agenda to the masses.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that although these influencers have been placed in government and some civilian roles, the Pentagon refuses to give details on their assignments, “despite the Trump administration’s claims that they are running the most transparent Defense Department ever.”

But the report made very clear that the goal was to “amplify Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s viewpoints and attack those who scrutinize the Trump administration, according to people familiar with the matter and corroborating material.”

The Post’s sources said the influencers include Rob Maness, a retired Air Force colonel; and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel.

“Pentagon records reviewed by The Washington Post show that both have active official government email addresses as of this past week and are assigned to the office of Anthony Tata, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The email addresses include a ‘.civ’ suffix, meaning they are labeled as civilian employees, rather than as military personnel or contractors,” the report said.

It continued:

Both served for decades in uniform and, since retiring, have turned from the military to conservative commentary. Maness has more than 135,000 followers on X, while Schlicter has nearly 620,000. Another retired Army colonel and influencer, Thomas Anderson, was listed in Pentagon records earlier this year with a “.civ” email address and assigned to Tata’s office, according to people familiar with the matter and records reviewed by The Post. An attorney, he writes online under the pen name Cynical Publius and has more than 323,000 followers on X. He was no longer listed in Pentagon records late this past week, the people familiar with the issue said.

“Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez declined to comment to The Post about whether any of the three are drawing a taxpayer-funded salary, what roles they have or how long those jobs are expected to last,” the report said.

Tata, Maness, Schlichter, and Anderson all declined to comment for the report.

On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Democratic and Republican politicians are paying tens of thousands of dollars for influencers on TikTok and other platforms to push their agendas.

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DONNY EVANS

THE PENTAGON gave undisclosed government assignments to several conservative military veterans who used large social media platforms to promote Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s agenda and target critics of the Trump administration, *The Washington Post* reported.

Rob Maness, a retired Air Force colonel, and Kurt Schlichter, a retired Army colonel, had active government email addresses assigned to the office of Anthony Tata, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, according to Pentagon records reviewed by the Post. Their addresses carried a “.civ” suffix identifying them as civilian employees.

Thomas Anderson, another retired Army colonel, appeared in Pentagon records earlier this year with a civilian email address and an assignment to Tata’s office. Anderson, an attorney who writes under the name Cynical Publius, was no longer listed late last week.

The three men command a combined audience of more than 1 million followers on X. Their government status remained absent from public commentary promoting Hegseth’s positions on Pentagon personnel, military education and other policy matters. The department has not said what responsibilities they received, when their assignments began or whether taxpayers funded their work.

Pentagon spokesman Joel Valdez declined to answer the Post’s questions about their duties, compensation and expected length of service. Tata did not respond. Maness and Schlichter did not respond to requests for comment. Anderson declined to comment by phone.

The men served as special government employees or highly qualified experts, according to people familiar with the assignments. Schlichter carried an “HQE” designation in a government database reviewed by the Post.

Federal law limits special government employees to 130 working days during any consecutive 365-day period and permits compensated or uncompensated service. Pentagon employment rules for experts and consultants allow full-time, part-time or intermittent appointments, with compensation decided individually. The financial arrangements involving Maness, Schlichter and Anderson remain unknown.

Their work included a visit to the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in May on behalf of the Pentagon’s Senior Service College Task Force. Hegseth established the task force in March to examine military colleges for ideology he characterized as “toxic” or “woke” and concentrate their curricula on developing warfighters.

Maness, Schlichter and Anderson met with students and faculty members over several days, according to two people familiar with the visit. They asked participants to assess Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some students questioned how candidly they could respond and whether unfavorable answers could bring consequences. Task force members also raised concerns about a course covering communication between military officers and Congress.

The task force has completed its research and prepared a report that has not been released, according to one person familiar with the visit.

Maness continued publishing commentary on issues within Hegseth’s portfolio. In a July 30 column for the right-wing *Daily Caller, he urged the administration to remove *“disloyal” Pentagon employees and condemned “careerists who treat the Pentagon as their permanent fiefdom.” The author biography identified him as a retired Air Force colonel and omitted a current Pentagon role.

PIX]

Rob Maness as a colonel in the Air Force. He retired in 2011. (U.S. Air Force)

Maness later wrote in an Aug. 26 article that “Secretary Hegseth’s outrage is justified” over the Army’s retreat from tougher academic requirements for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students. His government assignment was not disclosed.

A July letter defending Hegseth’s military-education policies described Maness as a retired officer. A Post spokesperson said Maness had not disclosed a Pentagon connection before publication.

Schlichter continued writing and posting about politics and military affairs without identifying a Pentagon role. Anderson defended Hegseth’s military overhaul and wrote in an April commentary for *The Federalist* that there is “a cancer in America’s military ranks, and it must be expunged before it’s too late.”

Scrutiny of the Pentagon’s influencer relationships intensified after the department and conservative commentator Jennica Pounds disclosed that she had become a special government employee in July. Pounds, known online as DataRepublican, had held a journalist credential in Hegseth’s revamped Pentagon press corps through June after receiving the pass in April.

Former Republican congressman and Air Force veteran Adam Kinzinger said on X that the Pentagon appeared to be using taxpayer money “to hire influencers on X to put out partisan talking points.”

The Pentagon has disclosed some outside appointments. In May, the department publicly named journalist Jerry Dunleavy to a panel reviewing the 2021 U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

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MMA 12 25

Select a sycophant

Jack Posobiec: “Not surprised Trump said what he said”

MAGA streamer Jack Posobiec — whose 2024 book describes leftists as “unhumans” and was blurbed by Vice President JD Vance — was among those on the right who initially sought to use the Reiners’ deaths to seize the moral high ground.

“You won’t see people on the right celebrating the horrific murder of Rob Reiner and his wife,” Posobiec bragged on Sunday night, as news of their deaths circulated. “Compare to the Left’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder,” he said, referencing random people who had their lives turned upside down for their social media reactions to that tragedy.

But it’s dangerous to claim moral authority for your side when your standard-bearer is Trump. After the president weighed in, Posobiec pivoted, suggesting that it is appropriate to post mean things about someone if you had strong political differences.

“Rob Reiner called for Trump to be jailed over lies,” Posobiec wrote. “Not surprised Trump said what he said.”

X post

Posobiec subsequently mocked “people telling on themselves for crying over a mean Trump tweet,” finding Trump’s response acceptable because “the Left wants us all dead.”

Laura Loomer: “Trump is right.” Reiner is a “loser.”

Laura Loomer, a fanatically loyal Trumpist with deep ties to the administration who is trying to foment an anti-Muslim crackdown, responded to Trump’s post by claiming that “Trump is right” because “Rob Reiner had a level of TDS that likely exuded a level of craziness around those he spent time with.”

X post

She also cited a fake post from Reiner, whom she described as a “loser,” and declared, “I stand with President Trump.”

X post

And she lashed out at the “simps” and “fake grifters” who are “calling Trump out for speaking truth about Rob Reiner.”

X post

Kurt Schlicter: Critics are “little bitches”

Kurt Schlichter, the TownHall.com columnist and frequent guest host for Fox contributor Hugh Hewitt’s Salem Radio Network show, is perhaps best-known for his fantasies about a potential race war and other glorifications of political violence against the left. He repeatedly ranted on Monday about conservative pundits who criticized Trump over the Reiner remarks.

“This Trump tweet about the guy who spent a decade slandering him in the most despicable ways possible provides the perfect opportunity for that kind of weak, feminine pseudo-conservative to do what they love best - join the left in whining like little bitches about how actual conservatives are so...so...soo...oh well I never!” he commented.

X post

After conservative pundit Erick Erickson commented that “the whole point should be that we are not them,” Schlichter responded that the right shouldn’t try to act like “good people” because the movement’s ends justify being “a bad person in the eyes of those too weak to stand and fight.”

X post

“Every tyranny in history embraced this,” Erickson responded.

Greg Gutfeld: “We don’t have to like it. I just look at [Trump’s] deeds.”

When Democratic co-host Harold Ford Jr. mentioned Trump’s post on Monday’s edition of The Five and said that he hoped the president “corrects himself,” fellow co-host and notorious lacker-of-principles Greg Gutfeld rose to the challenge of explaining to viewers why what Trump says doesn’t matter.

“You don't have to like the things that he says all the time,” Gutfeld said. “It is why in my filter, Trump is always words versus deeds. I don't have to like what he says. In fact, I can hate what he says. But I can also think, in his brain, he is going, uh, this guy compared me to Hitler, he put a target on my back, I don't like him. And it’s like, well — if it were me I’d go, like, but I’m sorry he’s dead. But he can't let that go.”

“We don't have to like it,” he concluded. “I just look at the deeds.”

Greg Kelly: “President Trump levels with us. He is not a phony”

Newsmax host Greg Kelly, who has argued that Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) “should be in jail” and that Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell “just might be innocent,” justified Trump’s Reiner comments on his Monday night broadcast.

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Right-wing media are gleefully promoting a false, racist rumor that Haitian migrants are eating pets

Right-wing figures have called Haitian people “locusts,” zombies,” and “weird Third World aliens”

Written by Chloe Simon & Reed McMaster

Research contributions from Gideon Taaffe

Published 09/10/24 mma

On September 9, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance claimed that Haitian migrants had “abducted and eaten” pets in Springfield, Ohio, seemingly referencing debunked social media rumors.

Though local officials explained that there was no truth to the claim, right-wing media immediately jumped on the bandwagon, amplifying Vance’s allegations and pushing racist narratives about Haitian immigrants.

Some right-wing figures accused Haitian migrants of consuming “cats and ducks” and comparing them to “zombies” and “locusts.”

Select a Section

• ## JD Vance falsely alleged Haitian migrants are kidnapping and eating people’s pets, continuing long-standing right-wing media attacks on Haitians

• • JD Vance wrote on X that he had previously raised concerns about “Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio” and “reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.” While Vance did admit in a subsequent post that “it's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” he doubled down by telling by telling his “fellow patriots” not to “let the crybabies in the media dissuade you” and encouraged them to continue making “cat memes.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24, 9/10/24, 9/10/24]

• • The claim Haitian migrants are eating cats seemingly originated from a commentator at a local meeting, Facebook rumors, and a video of a woman accused of eating an animal. The video used as evidence took place in Canton, Ohio, not Springfield, Ohio, and The Guardian reported that the woman did not appear to be a Haitian immigrant. The Guardian, [9/9/24]

• • Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck says there is no truth to the story.In a statement to ABC News, Heck said that “in response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.” (Vance had previously cited Heck in a Senate Banking committee meeting about issues Springfield has had with housing for Haitian migrants.) ABC News, [9/9/24]

• • The debunked attack on Haitian people is the latest in years’ worth of racist right-wing media tirades against the country. In the aftermath of the deadly 2010 Haiti earthquake, right-wing media said that the “Haitian pact with the devil is historical fact” and that the country was “so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough.” Then in 2018, when Trump had labeled Haiti a “shithole country,” Infowars’ Alex Jones backed him up, saying it is a “literal craphole” and a “hellhole.” Media Matters, [1/14/10, 1/20/10, 1/21/10, 1/12/18; NBC News, 1/11/18]

• ## Right-wing and far-right media figures and Trump allies have used this claim to launch hateful attacks at migrants, criticize the Biden/Harris administration’s immigration record, and encourage people to vote for Trump

• • The Federalist posted an article titled “If You Want Haitians Eating Cats And Decapitating Ducks In Your Town, Vote For Harris.”The piece also alleges that even though many have denied this claim, “officials have no way of knowing whether this is really happening” and that the debunks serve to “shame anyone who dares to notice the problems that arise when you inundate a community with foreigners from the Third World.” The Federalist, [9/10/24]

• • Fox anchor Trace Gallagher claimed migrants are “taking over” Springfield Ohio and eating people’s pets. He stated, “They’ve got 20,000 illegal immigrants that have flooded into this place. They are taking over the city. They are taking people's pets and killing them and eating them.” Media Matters, [9/9/24]

• • Trump campaign adviser Alex Bruesewitz claimed that “President Trump made it a felony to abuse animals” and “Kamala Harris allows illegal aliens to eat pets.” Bruesewitz also added, “Vote for Trump.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]

• • Trump ally Laura Loomer released “limited edition” “pet collars for your furever friends so that Kamala’s @KamalaHarris’s invaders know our pets are NOT YOUR LUNCH.”The collars say “Not Your Lunch #MAGA” and cost $23.28. Twitter/X, [9/9/24; Untamed USA, accessed 9/10/24]

• • The Gateway Pundit published an article titled “Epic Memes Emerge Online Following Reports of Cat and Bird-Eating Haitian Immigrants in Ohio, Causing Liberals to Lose Their Minds.” The article argued that the memes showed “not even our most beloved animals are safe from Harris’s open border,” noting that some of them depicted Trump as “a protector of the animals while telling Americans to vote for him in November.” The Gateway Pundit, [9/9/24]

• • Conservative outlet Townhall suggested voting for Trump to stop cats and ducks from being “consumed by illegal immigrants.” The site posted, “Right now—somewhere in Ohio—innocent cats and ducks are being consumed by illegal immigrants. Don't just sit idly by while your pets are victimized. Do something.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]

• • Townhall columnist Kurt Schlichter said that he wants to “close our borders to weird Third World aliens who want to eat our cats and dogs and our geese and ducks.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]

• • Libs of TikTok posted a poll asking people “which do you prefer,” “mean tweets” or “Haitians grilling cats.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]

• • In a discussion about the Haitian migrant story, Outkick host Clay Travis compared migrants coming into the U.S. to “locusts” who will “become a plague upon your land.”Travis further claimed that migrants in the U.S are “not going to adopt any of your values” and are going to “bring whatever awful things had destroyed the country that we were in to your country.” Premiere Radio Networks, *The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show*, [9/9/24]

• • Travis also claimed “Kamala’s illegal immigrants” are “eating up cats,” which he said puts “cat ladies for Kamala … in a tough spot.” He stated, “The wild thing to me is, Buck, you had all the cat ladies for Kamala that were running around because JD Vance made a reference years ago to childless cat ladies, and you had people showed up dressing up like cats. These cat women are in a tough spot now that Kamala's illegal immigrants are eating up cats.” Premiere Radio Networks, *The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show*, [9/9/24]

• • Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk amplified the rumor about Haitian immigrants, claiming that “allegedly, Haitians are going around and taking people's pets and eating them.”Media Matters, [9/9/24]

• • Infowars host Alex Jones argued that Haitians are being “brought in” to the country and committing multiple violent crimes as well as eating pets. He stated, “You've got the Haitians, who have had a collapsed country for many decades, the Clintons feeding off of them, all of it. Being brought in, in medium-sized towns, cities, you know, 20-, 30,000 a pop like Springfield, Ohio. Which is they're eating the dogs, the cats, raping, burning, murdering, just like zombies running around.” InfoWars, *The Alex Jones Show*, [9/9/24]
  • Daily Wire Matt Walsh argued that the cat eating is “happening everywhere that illegal immigrants are being imported.” He continued, “One wonders what the childless cat ladies will say when their cats end up in a Haitian's crock pot or whatever they use to cook cats — I don't know. After all, this isn't just happening in Springfield, Ohio. It's happening everywhere that illegal immigrants are being imported.” The Daily Wire, *The Matt Walsh Show*, [9/9/24]

• • TPUSA contributor Jack Posobiec shared a screenshot of a Facebook post claiming the poster’s neighbor’s daughter lost her cat to Haitian migrants who were “carving it up to eat.” Posobiec added, “20,000 Haitians have been imported to Springfield, Ohio since Biden and Kamala took office.” Twitter/X, [9/8/24]

• • Right-wing figure Ian Miles Cheong posted a video of a cat and a duck playing together with the caption: “Don't show this to the new 'residents' of Springfield, Ohio.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]

• • Right-wing commentator Mike Crispi alleged that we’ve “now reached the point where the poor asylum seeking migrants are eating house cats and wild birds.” Crispi also claimed that “Democrats are seeking to make these individuals citizens/voters.” Twitter/X, [9/9/24]
  • In response to someone asking him if he’s ever “met or helped any Haitians,” Gab CEO Andrew Torba posted that he’s “more concerned with helping and serving my own people in Ohio who the Haitians are terrorizing with their savagery.” Twitter/X, [9/10/24]

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Fox prime-time host Greg Gutfeld hosts race war fantasizer Kurt Schlichter | Media Matters for America

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mma no artl tag 8 23

Townhall

Conservative website

Townhall is a conservative website founded in 1995 by the Heritage Foundation and was acquired by Salem Media Group in 2006.

Featured

Townhall's Katie Pavlich Falsely Paints Gun Violence As Only An Urban Problem

12/05/12

Kurt_Schlichter_White_Nationalist_Tropes.png

Townhall senior columnist amplifies white nationalist tropes to troll followers

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The Latest

Right-wing media outlets are endorsing border militias as a tool to curb immigration

02/23/23 8:46 AM EST

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10/11/22 2:16 PM EDT

Right-wing media lie about fetal development to justify Georgia’s draconian limits on abortion

09/23/22 2:55 PM EDT

Conservatives invent conspiracy theories about Indiana doctor to distract from their cruel, unpopular anti-abortion policies

07/20/22 9:22 AM EDT

Indiana doctor reported 10-year-old's rape and abortion to authorities, but right-wing media’s denial continues to spread

07/15/22 3:24 PM EDT

Image of the Supreme Court and a "Protect Abortion Access" sign

The end of Roe v. Wade is a much bigger story than the leak

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The FDIC called on Newsmax to stop running a false advertisement for a scammy gold company; Townhall has run the same ad

03/20/20 4:54 PM EDT

study-out-of-context-abortion-rwm.png

Right-wing media can't stop mis-citing a 2013 abortion study -- and other outlets are repeating the error

04/08/19 2:03 PM EDT

obamacare.jpg

Right-wing media conveniently forget GOP's role in Obamacare losses

07/12/17 8:00 AM EDT

Townhall's Katie Pavlich Falsely Paints Gun Violence As Only An Urban Problem

12/05/12 4:12 PM EST

Bizarro World: GE Pays No Taxes; Charen Responds By Complaining Corporate Tax Rate Is Too High

03/29/11 12:28 PM EDT

Townhall Columnist: “I'd Rather Take My Chances With The Jared Loughners Of The World” Than With The Government

03/23/11 11:53 AM EDT

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Meet the Press hosted NBC News contributor and right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt this morning. Host Chuck Todd did not disclose that Hewitt has a financial tie to President Donald Trump: Last month, the Trump Make America Great Again Committee rented Hewitt's newsletter to raise money twice last month.

Hewitt is a pro-Trump hack who recently tweeted that “every Catholic, indeed every person of any faith, has to realize the left despises them and that the Democrats shelter this virulent bigotry and pretend it’s something else” (Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is Catholic). Hewitt also regularly turns over his radio program to guest host and unhinged bigot Kurt Schlichter.

ref no doc

https://www.mediamatters.org/hugh-hewitt/meet-press-and-chuck-todd-failed-disclose-trump-sponsors-hugh-hewitts-newsletter

nbc ...Chuck Todd did not disclose that Hewitt has a financial tie to Trump’s campaign: Last month, the Trump Make America Great Again Committee twice rented Hewitt’s newsletter to raise money.

Hewitt is the host of a program on Salem Radio Network, a columnist for The Washington Post, and a commentator for NBC News. He is a pro-Trump and Republican hack who recently tweeted that “every Catholic, indeed every person of any faith, has to realize the left despises them and that the Democrats shelter this virulent bigotry and pretend it’s something else” (the Democratic presidential nominee is Joe Biden, who is Catholic).

The Daily Beast reported last year on how “Hewitt has fallen in line with the rest of the conservative media ecosystem as a reliably Trumpian defender of the president’s bizarre and potentially criminal behavior.”

Hewitt also regularly turns over his radio program to guest host and unhinged bigot Kurt Schlichter.

Media Matters subscribes to Hewitt’s email newsletter, which is run by Salem and sends paid advertising. In September, “Trump Make America Great Again Committee, a joint fundraising committee authorized by and composed of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee,” rented Hewitt’s newsletter twice -- on September 2 and September 21 -- for fundraising emails.[doc]  Trump messages state that they’re “brought to you by The Hugh Hewitt Show” along with the disclaimer: “Occasional messages from sponsors allows us to provide our content at no cost to you. This message reflects the opinions of the advertiser alone, and not necessarily the opinion or editorial position of Salem Media Group.”

Meet the Press host Chuck Todd did not mention Hewitt’s financial tie to the Trump campaign. During his appearance, Hewitt stated that “this has been a week of enormous relief. I've interviewed a dozen Republican senators and the vice presidential debate really turned it around for a lot of Republicans, as did the president's sort of powerful energy on conservative media, getting back out there.” He added: “I believe the president is down in double digits but closing nationally.”

Hewitt has also done advertisements for Keep America America, a project of the pro-Trump Job Creators Network that aims “to activate the conservative base and boost turnout.” (Meet the Press didn't disclose that financial connection either.)

Hewitt has had other conflict of interest problems related to former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt; the Clean Water Act; and the anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom.