Thread by @Alice_Wilder

Remember that ultra-violent meme video showing “Trump” blasting the heads off journalists?

It happened at a conspiracy theory conference held at a Trump hotel.

I was there — for all 3 days…and trust me, the video was only half of it.

~STORYTIME~

Here’s what else I saw….

This conference promised to feature A-Listers: Don Jr. and Sarah Sanders. And fringe “citizen journalists” like Laura Loomer and Jack Posobiec.

And sure enough, there they were.

I heard conspiracy theories promoted from the main stage: Tracy Beanz, best known for her promotion of the Qanon conspiracy theory, moderated a panel. Mike Cenovich, known for his racist and misogynist work, was on a panel about antifa. You get the picture.

Outside the main stage there was *so much* Trump merch.

Some panels I attended: “Unmasking The Russian Hoax” and “Stealing America: Voter Fraud in the USA.” During the opening, Pastor Mark Burns told the audience, “We’ve come to declare war” (that story here: propublica.org/article/trump-…)

But here’s the thing: for as goofy as it all seemed, at the end of the day The Trump family business profited. Trump got paid. They won’t say how much, but @MattKatz00 found similar events cost $400K

Conference organizer Alex Phillips told me that around 1,000 people registered. General admission was $250 and hotel room were $199 a night.
Donald Trump Jr. advertised a special discount. $150 off with offer code “TRUMP.”

Don Jr. wouldn’t tell us if he got paid (he and gf Kimbery Guilfoyle made 50K for a speech the night before per @MiamiHerald reporting). Conference organizer Alex Phillips said it was “pretty much a half a million-dollar event.”

Phillips denounced the violent video shown at the conference. He said that overall, the conference was “successful, upbeat, positive and constructive.”

Oh and also— private prison company GeoGroup was a sponsor for the conference. @MattKatz00 found that they donated to one of the conference’s charities, the American King Foundation. Geo also held their annual leadership conference at Doral in 2017.

There’s sooo much more— listen to my story with WNYC’s @MattKatz00 wnycstudios.org/story/who-make…

Have information about the Doral that we should know? Send tips: wnycstudios.org/podcasts/trump…

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