Ali Alexander
Ali Alexander (1984 or 1985–), previously known as Ali Abdul Razaq Akbar, is a professional Sammy Davis Jr. lookalike 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.[1] He's also a convicted felon.[2][3]
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Rebuilding the Reich, one meme at a time |
Buzzwords and dogwhistles |
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Grifting
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) despite claiming to be one.[4] The Club also solicited donations for a fraudulent "Andrew Breitbart Scholarship Fund" that had no actual involvement from Breitbart himself.[5]
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
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. Alexander organized various protests and rallies, in which he chanted "victory or death" — thus, already clearly indicating what he truly believes about America's democratic process.
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.[7]
Alexander has since been banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Paypal, Venmo, and Patreon.
Importing Ilhan
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.[8]
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,[9] and claimed he travelled around town in "armoured cars" with a team of security professionals in order to avoid hit men. The armoured cars and security is conveniently never shown on camera, and were likely yet another scam by Alexander to solicit donations.[10]
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,[11] the video was promptly taken down, and Alexander disowned Wohl.
White supremacist dogwhistling
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,
Alexander has a habit of noting members of the media who are Jewish, a common dogwhistling tactic of the alt-right.[12]
Other wackiness
Alexander was convicted in 2006 for theft, and again in 2008 for debit card fraud.[13] Changing his last name probably has something to do with this.
He co-founded Culttture, a pro-Trump website featuring a number of MAGA personalities, which is currently defunct only soliciting money.
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).[14][15]
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]
See also
Notes
- It's worth noting that Alexander had once been briefly blocked in the past, when he threatened to murder the congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
References
- 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.
- Sommer, Will (January 11, 2021). "'Stop the Steal' Organizer in Hiding After Denying Blame for Riot" (in en). The Daily Beast.
- Richardson, Davis (October 30, 2018). "Robert Mercer Bankrolled PAC Advised By Notorious Fringe 'Philosopher' Ali Alexander" (in en-US).
- "Texas Shuts Down The National Bloggers Club".
- "The National Bloggers Club And Their Super PAC Friends".
- "Robert Mercer Bankrolled PAC Advised By Notorious Fringe ‘Philosopher’ Ali Alexander".
- "‘Stop the Steal’ Organizer in Hiding After Denying Blame for Riot".
- "Bringing Siblings to Live in the United States as Permanent Residents".
- This 21-year-old tweeted lies about Robert Mueller and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Now, he's eyeing the 2020 election
- Jacob Wohl, the Trump internet activist cashing in on conspiracy theories, explained, Jane Coaston, Vox.
- https://www.thedailybeast.com/jacob-wohl-faked-death-threats-against-himself
- "Who is Ali Alexander? 'Official organizer' of Trump DC rally was charged for vehicle burglary, debit card fraud".
- 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.
- Trump's Culture Warriors Go Home: They were poised to storm Washington. Then America stopped caring. by Ben Schreckinger (November/December 2018) Politico Magazine.