The drama behind President Trump’s CNN GIF is turning into a professional wrestling-style spectacle in real life, and it’s unclear anymore who the real villain is.
On July 2, Trump tweeted a GIF—edited footage from his real-life 2007 Wrestlemania appearance, with the CNN logo superimposed on the head of his in-character adversary Vince McMahon—with the hashtags #FraudNewsCNN and #FNN. It became his most popular tweet of all time, drawing ire from sides of the aisle for its juvenile tone and apparent endorsement of violence against journalists, especially in the wake of the Ben Jacobs/Greg Gianforte assault.
#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
The GIF was created by a user of Reddit’s The_Donald, a controversial forum for the president’s most fervent supporters, which first gained national notoriety for rigging online debate polls in his favor during the 2016 election.
The user, HanAssholeSolo, was initially ecstatic that Trump used his GIF. He was dubbed a “meme master” on the site and became something of a minor celebrity. “Holy shit!! I wake up and have my morning coffee and who retweets my shitpost but the MAGA EMPORER himself!!! I am honored!!” the user wrote.
This is not the first time the president has drawn Twitter fodder from the community, once retweeting an old Rosie O’Donnell tweet r/The_Donald had surfaced.
But the user has changed his tune considerably since then. He deleted his Reddit account and issued a lengthy apology for the GIF and other posts, but—in a classic heel turn—critics contend that CNN was twisting his arm.
Redditor HanAssholeSolo, the guy who posted the Trump/CNN clip the president tweeted, has apologized to @CNN, the media, and others pic.twitter.com/GlePoiSlFj
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) July 4, 2017
Over the holiday, CNN’s investigative unit KFILE spoke with the user behind the GIF, which led to his public apology, which was published on both CNN and in a post on Reddit.
First of all, I would like to apologize to the members of the [Reddit] community for getting this site and this sub embroiled in a controversy that should never have happened,” he wrote. “I would also like to apologize for the posts made that were racist, bigoted, and anti-semitic. I am in no way this kind of person, I love and accept people of all walks of life and have done so for my entire life. I am not the person that the media portrays me to be in real life, I was trolling and posting things to get a reaction from the subs on reddit and never meant any of the hateful things I said in those posts.
In its article, CNN announced it would not disclose his name “out of fear for his personal safety and for the public embarrassment it would bring to him and his family.” But CNN included this curious snippet.
CNN is not publishing “HanA**holeSolo’s” name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same.
CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.
Almost immediately, people pounced on that phrasing, claiming that the news organization was threatening to dox HanAssholeSolo. Many on Twitter and Reddit saw it as blackmail.
While we were celebrating freedom #CNN decided to squash a kid for a joke? No Words. #CNNBlackmail
— Artist_Angie: Sensei of Sarcasm (@Artist_Angie) July 5, 2017
Me: *Schedules time to make CNN gifs*
Donald’s happy day #CNNBlackMail
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) July 5, 2017
Keep the tweets coming 😂🤣😅 https://t.co/CJmkEFQsHO
Infowars’ Paul Joseph Watson, a longtime CNN foe, led a fervent charge.
Should a news organization that blackmails children be allowed to have White House press access? #CNNBlackmail
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) July 5, 2017
The media thought they had scored a huge victory identifying that CNN meme poster. It blew up in their stupid faces again. #CNNBlackmail
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) July 5, 2017
Hey @brianstelter – you blamed Infowars for people hating CNN.
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) July 5, 2017
No.#CNNBlackmail is why people hate CNN.
Look in the mirror.
Doxing, or the public release of private information, is a complicated issue. Some believe a right to privacy is absolute, while others argue that outing someone creates necessary public accountability.
CNN’s curious decision did not sit well with virtually anyone. The alt-right jumped up all over it as another way to discredit the network. The_Donald is organizing a petition to contact CNN advertisers, and Donald Trump Jr. has lent his support to the cause.
https://twitter.com/thedonaldreddit/status/882560247247798274
So I guess they weren’t effective threatening the admin so they go after & bully a 15 y/o? Seems in line w their “standards” #CNNBlackmail https://t.co/u8YmNnLonj
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 5, 2017
If only @CNN spent as much time tracking down info on IRS targeting, Fast & Furious, Iran deal etc as they did a meme writer! #CNNBlackmail
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 5, 2017
Interesting point… Seems they want the best of both ways as always. #CNNBlackmail https://t.co/xYRRNNAxTU
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 5, 2017
But members of the media on the left were equally uncomfortable with the network’s choice of words.
https://twitter.com/PhillyD/status/882414724263976960
https://twitter.com/germanrlopez/status/882432586865397760
https://twitter.com/germanrlopez/status/882433038935785474
https://twitter.com/germanrlopez/status/882433468113838080
https://twitter.com/germanrlopez/status/882434539460718593
https://twitter.com/germanrlopez/status/882435429320052736
Andrew Kaczynski, the author of the post, denied that the way CNN handled the matter was in any way blackmail.
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/882417992717537280
The threat is the part where you say you’ll renege on the deal and reveal his identity if he doesn’t behave https://t.co/OBY8EssJLO
— Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/882438606270410752
The issue is complicated by the fact that the user has tweeted anti-Semitic imagery before, specifically about CNN and its reporters—a point that, before his article’s language was called out by Twitter, Kaczinski tweeted about.
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/882418809046528000
Like this one? (For education and exhibition purposes)
— ☢️Wulfsblod☣️ (@RLodbrk) July 5, 2017
:^) pic.twitter.com/RYJ01gwaBn
Regardless, after brewing over the evening, the matter has hit the mainstream, with Fox News effectively declaring that CNN was “the most trusted name in blackmail.”
This was a real graphic Fox showed this morning: “CNN the most trusted name in … blackmail?” pic.twitter.com/B4nae2CrEF
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) July 5, 2017
There may be only one way to settle this: in the ring.
Update 11:01am CT, July 5: CNN issued a statement regarding the article, saying that any assertion that its reporters made a deal with HanAssholeSolo for threatened him in any way was false.
CNN statement on the HanAssholeSolo story pic.twitter.com/mf2tilu9UB
— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) July 5, 2017
CNN also refuted a rumor that had been percolating among right-leaning circles on Twitter that the meme creator was a 15-year-old boy. According to CNN, he is an adult male.
