Far-Right Internet Groups Listen for Trump’s Approval, and Often Hear It

As President Donald Trump and his allies have waged a fear-based campaign to drive Republican voters to the polls for the midterm elections, far-right internet communities have been buoyed as their once-fringe views have been given oxygen by prominent Republicans. Since the 2016 election, these far-right communities have entered into a sort of imagined dialogue with the president. They create and disseminate slogans and graphics, and celebrate when they show up in Trump’s Twitter feed days or weeks later. They carefully dissect his statements, looking for hints of their influence. And when they find those clues, they take them as evidence that President Trump is “/ourguy/,” a label for people internet extremists believe share their views, but who are unable to say so directly in public.