Mike Cernovich: Mr. Moneybags?
Did right-wing media troll and all-around terrible person Mike Cernovich just do the exact thing he’s been accusing financier George Soros of doing for months? Did Cernovich literally pay protesters to attend an event?
Right-wingers have been harping on the “paid protester” non-issue since the start of the 2016 campaign season. Donald Trump regularly accused those who protested against him of being “paid protesters,” with no evidence to back up his wild claims. Yet he was the one who literally paid actors to show up at Trump Tower to cheer him on the day he announced he was running for president.
Trump’s supporters, if anything, have been even more eager to label their opponents as “paid protesters” and “shills,” often accusing financier George Soros by name as being the secret Mr. Moneybags behind it all. During the 2016 campaign, Trump superfan Cernovich was quick to cry foul any time anyone took to the streets (or to Twitter) to say anything bad about Trump — or about Cernovich himself — with absolutely no evidence beyond his own imagination.
In the middle of Soros's paid protesters. #RNCinCLE 50 people. Small. Low energy. pic.twitter.com/Mm6zuKRmez
— Mike Cernovich
(@Cernovich) July 22, 2016
(@Cernovich) Scoop! Paid protesters are in, plan on burning flag at 4 pm. Developing. #RNCinCLE pic.twitter.com/R4DjOLt71x
— Mike Cernovich
(@Cernovich) July 20, 2016
Now there’s been something of a plot twist. Yesterday, Cernovich tweeted this:
I spent $5,000 to get people to Berkeley today. @YAF, which makes $35 million a year, backed down. Says it all. Scammers!
— Mike Cernovich
(@Cernovich) April 27, 2017
Naturally, more than a few of Cernovich’s non-fans were quick to point out the, er, irony here.
@Cernovich @yaf So you're literally paying for people to protest?
— Ric (@RicChciuk) April 27, 2017
@Cernovich @yaf Paid protesting is a rough business, eh?
— S.T. Hip-P (@sthipp) April 27, 2017
@Cernovich @yaf You literally paid people to protest?
You're gonna need to spend more if you wanna get me to switch over from Soros.
— Sean (@seeeeeeeean) April 28, 2017
But few on the left have seriously accused Cernovich of hiring paid protesters. That’s because they know there is a difference between literally paying people to attend rallies — as Trump’s people did for his announcement event — and paying money to help people get to rallies, which is what Cernovich seems to have done.
Lots of political organizations help to subsidize or outright provide transportation to people who would otherwise be unable to attend events. There’s nothing wrong with this, just as there’s nothing wrong with letting an out-of-town guest crash on your couch so they can attend a protest.
So, no, to answer the question in my somewhat clickbaity headline, Cernovich isn’t the George Soros of the far-right. Nor, I should add, is George Soros the George Soros of the left.
But given Cernovich’s massive hypocrisy on this issue, I can’t say I really object to rubbing his nose in this just a little bit.