Donald Trump says he wants to have “the best people” in his administration. Well, we know that his definition of “the best people” includes people with staggering conflicts of interest, out-and-out racists who probably couldn’t get a security clearance under normal circumstances, and serial plagiarists, among others. At first glance, it looked like Trump’s bar was only a few inches above the ground.
Well, it turns out even that estimate is too generous. Earlier on Monday, Forbes confirmed that right-wing pseudo-journalist and super-troll Charles C. Johnson is helping recommend candidates for the incoming Trump administration.
Johnson is best known as the bottom-feeder behind GotNews, a so-called news site that all too often strays into harassment, stalking, and outright threats. He was booted off Twitter three times in the second half of 2014. In the space of two weeks in October, he posted the address of a suspected Ebola victim, then asked for help in finding the boyfriend of a nurse who had been exposed to Ebola. In December 2014, he repeatedly posted the name of the woman who claimed to have been gang-raped at the University of Virginia in 2012, and was suspended again.
The final straw came in May 2015, when he tweeted a call for help in “taking out” Black Lives Matter activist Deray McKesson. Within hours, Twitter suspended him for a fourth time. Despite Johnson’s protest that he only wanted to doxx McKesson, Twitter opted to ban him for good. This was a move that was long overdue, especially considering the numerous instances where Johnson has engaged in behavior that should have gotten him suspended long ago–like posting the home addresses of reporters. In the face of all of this, he claims to have been persecuted for practicing journalism. As someone who was actually persecuted for speaking out, I find this beyond insulting.
Just before Christmas, Charles F. Johnson of Little Green Footballs (no relation to Charles C.) noticed that Charles C. was a guest on alt-right favorite Stefan Molyneux’ Christmas special–on which he announced that he was helping vet Trump’s picks for administration posts. I thought this was snark–but sadly, it wasn’t. Watch here.
https://youtu.be/8Fj9jm6tqrY?t=1h48m36s
Charles C.’s appearance starts at around the 1:48 mark and ends at the 2:15 mark. Johnson boasted that he was “doing a lot of the vetting for the administration, the Trump transition.” Charles F. was horrified. After all, he was a victim of Charles C’s stalking; Charles C. once tweeted pictures of himself at Charles F.’s old apartment.
On Monday, sources close to the Trump transition team told Forbes that Charles C. has been working behind the scenes with the Trump transition team since the day after the election. His primary role is recommending and vetting prospective picks and giving them a stamp of approval from the alt-right.
Forbes reports that Charles C. has a very close relationship with Trump megadonor and PayPal founder Peter Thiel, a member of the transition team’s executive committee. According to Forbes, Johnson has pushed a number of candidates to Thiel, such as Ajit Pai, who is on the short list to become FCC chairman. He has also set up a database where potential nominees can submit their databases. Additionally, he has helped potential nominees set up meetings with transition team members and conservative bigshots. One of them is Jim O’Neill, who is on the short list to head the FDA.
Publicly, Charles C. denies working with Thiel. It’s no wonder, because the irony of the situation is absolutely staggering. Thiel, for those who don’t know, bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s invasion of privacy lawsuit against Gawker Media–a suit that ultimately drove Gawker into bankruptcy. And now he’s reportedly working hand in glove with a man whose idea of journalism involves invading privacy to an even greater extent that Gawker ever did.
But even if Charles C. isn’t working with Thiel, the mere fact that Johnson has any role at all in the Trump transition team is an absolute disgrace. He claims that Hillary supporters were the real deplorables, and yet his transition team is letting a guy who is the very definition of deplorable pick the next administration?
The signal must go out–Charles C. Johnson doesn’t belong within an area code of the transition. Tell Trump’s crew what you think on the transition team’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.
(featured image courtesy Charles C.’s Facebook)
