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Ali Alexander

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Ali Alexander
Frogs, clowns, and swastikas
Alt-right
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Chuds
Rebuilding the Reich, one meme at a time
Buzzwords and dogwhistles

Ali Alexander (born Ali Abdul-Razaq Akbar) (1984 or 1985–),[1][2] previously known as Ali Abdul Razaq Akbar,[3] is a far-right internet troll, woo-pusher, self-described "philosopher", and pro-Trump grifter of questionable competence, usually playing second fiddle to more prominent far-right personalities like Mike Cernovich, Roger Stone, Jacob Wohl, and Laura Loomer. He was one of the chief organizers of "Stop the Steal", the conspiracy theory and protest movement intended to overturn the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as a former fellow at the Council for National Policy.[4] He's also a convicted felon.[5][6]

Grifting[edit]

Alexander has a history of running various non-profit political organizations of questionable legitimacy. He was founder and CEO of the National Bloggers’ Club, nominally a group for conservative bloggers and writers, which was tied to "shady data collection operations" for GOP Super PACs, and was shut down by the state of Texas for failing to register as a 501(c)(3) charity despite claiming to be one.[7] The Club also solicited donations for a fraudulent "Andrew Breitbart Scholarship Fund" that had no actual involvement from Breitbart himself.[8]

He ran a number of Tea Party astroturf sites with loaded names like "American Liberty Alliance", "Americans For Prosperity", "Tea Party Brew.com" and "BlogBash", which were similarly scammy. His current operation, a digital marketing firm called Vice and Victory, also appears to be little more than just another front for Alexander to collect 'donations'.

Alexander, a self-declared "interpreter of energy", convinced right-wing billionaire Trump supporter Robert Mercer to donate him $60,000 through a PAC he had allegedly "advised".[6]

Election and insurrection[edit]

See the main article on this topic: 2021 U.S. Capitol riot

Alexander was one of the primary architects of "Stop the Steal", a pro-Trump protest movement that sought to overturn the legitimate results of the free and fair presidential election, which the wannabe-dictator had lost bigly.[9] Alexander organized various protests and rallies, in which he chanted "victory or death" (including on the day before the riot)[10] — thus, already clearly indicating what he truly believes about America's democratic process. Alexander claimed that he organized "Stop the Steal" along with Congressional Representatives Andy Biggs, Mo Brooks and Paul Gosar.[11] Due to a massive data hack of far-right web hosting company Epik by Anonymous, it was revealed that Alexander or someone working with him tried to remove information that linked Alexander to more than 100 "Stop the Steal"-related domains that Alexander owned shortly after the riot,[12] thus showing consciousness of guilt.

Alexander, along with Alex Jones, was one of the chief organizers of the January 6th pro-Trump "Wild Protest" march that devolved into a riot when Trump sicced it on the Capitol building; the riot claimed the lives of five people. In the wake of the incident, Alexander, refusing to disavow the treasonous action of his supporters, promptly went right back to e-begging, claiming that he was "in hiding" and needed $2000 a day to pay for a security detail.[5]

Alexander promoted violence on multiple social media platforms, including Twitter, but was only briefly banned by Twitter in 2019.[13][14] He was not permanently banned until after the actual promoted violence occurred following January 6, 2021.[9][15] This can be attributed to his friendship with Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey and Dorsey and Twitter's libertarian ideology of promoting far-right extremism.[9]

Alexander has since been banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Paypal, Venmo, and Patreon. One could conclude from all this that Alexander suffers from a persecution complex because he thinks that "is being persecuted for his faith in Jesus Christ and our republic",[16] rather than for his support for the violent overthrow of a democracy.

On October 7, the United States House Select Committee on the 2021 U.S. coup attempt issued a subpoena requesting records and testimony from Alexander. After sitting through an 8+ hour deposition, he posted on his Telegram that he hoped lightning struck and burned down the White House.[17]

Importing Ilhan[edit]

Alexander was one of the chief signal-boosters of the debunked conspiracy theory that Ilhan Omar's ex-husband was actually her brother and they only married so he could be granted US citizenship. The claim doesn't even make any sense, since US citizens can petition the USCIS to bring a brother or sister to the United States, making a marriage unnecessary.[18]

Alexander arranged for himself, Laura Loomer, and Jacob Wohl to travel to Minneapolis, Omar's hometown, to "investigate" their own nonsense claims, fundraising thousands of dollars from their gullible fanbase in the process. Their visit to Minneapolis resulted in a series of weird tweets and streams by Wohl about Minneapolis being a no-go zone overrun by Somali Jihadists,[19] and claimed he traveled around town in "armoured cars" with a team of security professionals in order to avoid hitmen. The armoured cars and security are conveniently never shown on camera and were likely yet another scam by Alexander to solicit donations.[20]

The trio filmed an online documentary, Importing Ilhan, about the trip, which was posted to his Alexander's website Culttture. After word got out that Wohl had filed a false police report on-camera,[21] the video was promptly taken down, and Alexander disavowed Wohl.

White supremacist dogwhistling[edit]

See the main articles on this topic: White supremacy and Code word

Like most prominent Trumpland personalities, Alexander has a long history of dogwhistling to the alt-right and Neo-Nazi elements of the MAGA movement. After Unite the Right, Alexander interviewed alt-right personality and Baked Alaska bestie Matthew Colligan,Wikipedia known for propagating the phrase "Hitler did nothing wrong" on a Gateway Pundit podcast hosted by Lucian Wintrich.Wikipedia Wintrich was later fired by Gateway for appearing in a podcast with Nick Fuentes, where he claimed antisemitic hate crimes were false flags.

Alexander has a habit of noting members of the media who are Jewish, a common dogwhistling tactic of the alt-right.[6]

Other wackiness[edit]

Jack Dorsey with Alexander

Alexander was convicted in 2006 for theft and again in 2008 for debit card fraud.[22] Changing his name probably has something to do with this.

He co-founded Culttture, a pro-Trump website featuring a number of MAGA personalities, which for a time was only soliciting money but now appears to be wholly defunct.

Alexander has a history of making equally bizarre non sequitur statements on social media on par with Alex Jones' claims that runoff from nuclear reactors is turning the frogs gay, which includes an assertion that orange is a sacred color given to him by God. Alexander had also previously propagated a series of birther-like claims, such as one that Kamala Harris is "not an American Black" (by his own criteria, Alexander wouldn't be either).[23][24]

In 2018, Alexander met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey regarding whether it was advisable to ban Alex Jones from Twitter, stating that both he and Jones had "interesting points" to make. Alas, it was not enough to save either from the ban hammer.[note 1]

After being banned from most social media platforms post-Capitol riot, Alexander made a series of bizarre and threatening claims on the livestreaming platform Trovo. Among other things, he announced plans for a "MAGA mega-city" and another planned community in South America called the "City of Alexander".[25][26] He also stated he would organize further Stop the Steal rallies and that he was creating "tools of creation and tools of chaos". He also called for the abolition of the free press, labeling them "systems that control us," and challenged law enforcement to combat if they attempted to arrest him. Given that most of these "plans" involved him soliciting donations, they're likely little more than additional grifts.

Alexander once said he could time travel, and that "of course the Jews time travel."[27] He added: "Even if Kari [Lake] was going to lose, I would will it into existence. And I know that sounds kooky and I know that sounds crazy."[27] Lake lost her election (even if she denies it), so he must have changed his mind.

In 2023, Alexander was involved in a feud with Milo Yiannopoulos stemming from their involvement with the disastrous 2024 Ye presidential campaign. During the feud, Alexander (who was revealed to be bisexual by Yiannopoulos) was accused of allegedly proposing or sending nude pictures to two teenage boys in the MAGA movement.[28] In mid April 2023, Alexander, who previously fervently denied these accusations, released an apology for "inappropriate messages" while insisting that "nothing unlawful has occurred", and claimed that he was being targeted by "fake accusers or literal honey pots eager to frame me."[29] Alexander also stated "this is too gay" regarding the situation and apologized, but did not deny the allegations.[30]

Stopped clock[edit]

See the main article on this topic: Stopped clock

In bizarre testimony that Alexander gave to defend himself in the wake of the January 6th coup attempt, he stated how he sympathizes with black and Arab men who face persecution and racism (as he himself is half black and half Arab). However, the rest of the article is just him rambling on about how he was “innocent” during January 6th.[31]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. Alexander had once been briefly blocked in the past when he threatened to murder the congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

References[edit]

  1. Theater of the Absurd: How A Louisiana Extremist Helped the Trump Campaign Manufacture Outrage: Months before Tuesday's election, a controversial GOP operative with ties to Baton Rouge began planning a series of voter fraud protests across the nation. by Lamar White, Jr. (November 8, 2020) Bayou Brief.
  2. Law Firm Tied to Far-Right Fringe Registers Stop the Steal LLC in Alabama by Michael Edison Hayden (December 18, 2020) Southern Poverty Law Center.
  3. How Republican Politics (And Twitter) Created Ali Alexander, The Man Behind ‘Stop The Steal’: A HuffPost investigation reveals many links, past and present, between the far-right extremist and the GOP establishment. by Luke O’Brien (03/07/2021 10:09 am ET Updated Mar 08, 2021) Huffington Post.
  4. Rallies ahead of Capitol riot were planned by established Washington insiders by Robert O'Harrow Jr. (Jan. 17, 2021 at 5:00 a.m. PST) The Washington Post.
  5. 5.0 5.1 ‘Stop the Steal’ Organizer in Hiding After Denying Blame for Riot: On Sunday night, Twitter banned Ali Alexander’s personal account and an account for “Stop the Steal.” by Will Sommer (Updated Jan. 10, 2021 9:40PM ET / Published Jan. 10, 2021 9:08PM ET) The Daily Beast.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Robert Mercer Bankrolled PAC Advised By Notorious Fringe ‘Philosopher’ Ali Alexander by Davis Richardson (10/30/18 8:00am) Observer.
  7. Shuts Down The National Bloggers Club by Matt Osborne (March 7, 2014) Breitbart Unmasked.
  8. The National Bloggers Club And Their Super PAC Friends by Matt Osborne (9/12/12 4:00pm) Crooks and Liars.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 'We Make Mistakes': Twitter's Embrace of the Extreme Far Right (July 07, 2021) Southern Poverty Law Center.
  10. Far-right activist and "Stop the Steal" leader Ali Alexander in Freedom Plaza leads the crowd in a "Victory or death!" chant. by Zachary Petrizzo (2:00 PM · Jan 5, 2021) Twitter (archived from July 3, 2021).
  11. A ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer, now banned by Twitter, said three GOP lawmakers helped plan his D.C. rally by Teo Armus (January 13, 2021 at 5:14 a.m. EST) The Washington Post.
  12. After the Capitol riot, ‘Stop the Steal’ organizer Ali Alexander was scrambling to hide his digital footprint: The 'Stop the Steal' founder's data was swept up in the breach of web hosting company Epik. by Mikael Thalen (Sep 20, 2021) Daily Dot.
  13. ‘There’s An Accountability Tidal Wave Coming’—Ali Alexander, National Organizer of ‘Stop the Steal’ by Jan Jekielek (December 11, 2020) Epoch Times (archived from February 15, 2021).
  14. Jack Dorsey Thinks Fringe Figure Ali Akbar Makes ‘Interesting Points’: The Twitter CEO consulted with the right-wing political commentator over whether he should permanently remove Alex Jones from the platform. by Jesselyn Cook (01/18/2019 05:45 am ET) Huffington Post.
  15. Ali #StopTheSteal Alexander Ali, Twitter (archived from January 9, 2021).
  16. Alialexander.org (archived from February 7, 2021).
  17. Zachary Petrizzo, Jan. 6 Organizer: I Hope Lightning Strikes and ‘Burns’ Down Biden White House. The Daily Beast, 25 January 2022.
  18. Bringing Siblings to Live in the United States as Permanent Residents U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
  19. This 21-year-old tweeted lies about Robert Mueller and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Now, he's eyeing the 2020 election by Gus Garcia-Roberts (Published: 7:16 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2019; Updated: 1:17 p.m. ET Feb. 26, 2019) USA Today.
  20. Jacob Wohl, the Trump internet activist cashing in on conspiracy theories, explained: Why a failed teen hedge fund manager tried to launch a smear campaign against Pete Buttigieg and keeps pushing far-right conspiracy theories. by Jane Coaston (Updated Apr 30, 2019, 4:55pm EDT) Vox.
  21. Jacob Wohl Faked Death Threats Against Himself: One came from a phony account the wingnut provocateur created and ran just before he was banned from Twitter. by Will Sommer (Updated May. 08, 2019 6:38PM ET; Published Mar. 13, 2019 11:55AM ET) The Daily Beast.
  22. Who is Ali Alexander? 'Official organizer' of Trump DC rally was charged for vehicle burglary, debit card fraud: Alexander has been involved with Tea Party politics since the early 2000s, having been part of John McCain's presidential campaign by Neetha K (Updated On: 07:30 PST, Jan 12, 2021) MEAWW.
  23. This Trumpworld operative obsessed with Kamala Harris’ background has a past he doesn’t want you to see by Zachary Petrizzo (Jan 26, 2021, 9:13 pm) Daily Dot.
  24. Trump's Culture Warriors Go Home: They were poised to storm Washington. Then America stopped caring. by Ben Schreckinger (November/December 2018) Politico Magazine.
  25. Ali Alexander wants to build a MAGA ‘mega city’ and a backup in South America: 'I am going to create a society and a community and a culture and a language.' by Zachary Petrizzo (Published Feb 11, 2021; Updated Feb 11, 2021, 1:00 pm CST) Daily Dot.
  26. “Stop the Steal” organizer Ali Alexander is now streaming clear threats on Trovo: Alexander threatened to meet authorities “on the battlefield” should they try to arrest him by Olivia Little (02/11/21 12:36 PM EST) Media Matters for America.
  27. 27.0 27.1 ‘Stop The Steal’ Organizer Ali Alexander Claims He Can Time Travel and ‘Will’ Kari Lake to Win in AZ by Alex Griffing (11/14/22 5:38 PM EST) Mediate.
  28. "‘Stop the Steal’ Organizer Apologizes After Being Accused of Asking Teen Boys for D*ck Pics" by Will Sommer, Daily Beast, 2023 April 17
  29. "Stop the Steal Founder Ali Alexander Apologizes Amid Allegations of Texting Teens" by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone, 2023 April 17
  30. Caitlin Cruz, Top MAGA Organizer Says 'This Is Too Gay' When Asked About Having Solicited Nudes From Teen Boys. Jezebel, 17 April 2023.
  31. Ali Alexander January 6th testimony via The New York Times.