In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American politician and gun rights activist, Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert). She's best-known for her support of the QAnon conspiracy theory, for her support of Donald Trump, and for her pro-Russian voting patterns and hot takes.
1/15
Boebert comes from a modest background, and her family was allegedly living on welfare when she was growing up. After high school, she worked at McDonalds and as a pipeliner. In 2013, Lauren and her husband opened Shooters Grill, a gun-themed restaurant where carrying...
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...guns openly was encouraged. In 2004 her then-boyfriend Jayson was arrested for exposing his penis to two young women at a bowling alley. In 2020, she protested the COVID-19 mandates by opening the restaurant despite of restrictions.
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She was then served with a cease and desist order, with which she refused to comply. Eventually, their food license was suspended. The restaurant was a highly unprofitable business endeavor, and it was closed in 2022.
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Around 2019, she started challenging various Democrat politicians on their gun rights stance and occasionally hanging out in demonstrations with far-right militias and organizations such as Three Percenters and The Proud Boys.
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She also gained a lot of traction with her support of the QAnon movement. In May 2020, when she was interviewed by QAnon conspiracy theorist Ann Vandersteel, she stated that:...
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..."Everything I've heard of Q, I hope that this is real because it only means America is getting stronger and better". She was also following several QAnon-related YouTube channels, but deleted her account after someone pointed this out.
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Like her fellow QAnon associate Marjorie Taylor Greene, Boebert denied any connection with either The Proud Boys or with QAnon after she was elected as a representative.
8/15
Lauren is part of the so-called MAGA Republicans group and a HUGE Trump fan. She's been a large proponent of the "Stop the Steal" movement, stating that there was widespread voter fraud in Arizona. She was also criticized for her Twitter coverage of the Jan 6th insurrection.
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As a representative,Boebert has introduced a few dozen bills and resolutions,out of which only two have passed committee (the 1st step in making proposed legislation into a law).Some notable examples include a resolution seeking to enlist antifa as domestic terrorist group.
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She's stated that her top legislative priority is the elimination of critical race theory from US schools, even though the theory is not even taught in schools.
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In Jan 2023, she opposed additional military aid to Ukraine, saying that the US has "already sent too much help" and continuing that "we don’t know where that money is going". For some reason, Boebert also opposed Violence Against Women Act.
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She claimed that the money to Ukraine would be better spent on protecting the south border and fighting the fentanyl crisis.
In Feb 2023, Boebert and three other representatives sponsored a bill to name the AR-15 rifle the US "national gun".
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On 8 Apr 2023, @AnonOpsUnited tweeted that they have damning e-mails of Boebert's. As of today, it is still unclear if these hacks/leaks are genuine or not. If genuine, Mrs. Boebert apparently had Googled about the size of duck's penis.
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The amount of military and humanitarian aid from the US to Ukraine is substantial, and halting it would have devastating effects on Ukraine. This is why the Kremlin will keep on promoting the Trumpists like Boebert, Gaetz, Santos and Taylor Greene to undermine these efforts.15/15
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In today’s Wumao Soup, I’ll introduce how and where the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) online propaganda and influence operations work. Due to China’s massive population and advances in AI, CCP-aligned online content has become increasingly visible.
1/20
Like Russia’s troll farms, China has its own troll army: the “50 Cent Party” or “Wumao” refers to state-linked online commentators who are reportedly paid ¥0.50 per post to steer discussions away from criticism and amplify CCP narratives on social media.
2/20
Back in 2017, a research paper estimated that the Wumao produced almost 500 million fabricated comments annually to distract readers and shift topics. In that sense, Wumao operates very similarly to the Russian “Firehose of Falsehood” model:
In today’s Vatnik Soup and the “Degenerate Russia” series, I’ll show you the brutal reality of Russian war crimes, in particular the horrific tortures and sexual abuses of children, women and men.
Buckle up, this one is not for the faint-hearted.
1/24
For over a decade now and as part of their “firehose of falsehood” propaganda strategy, Russia has been spreading false narratives targeted at right-wing/conservative audiences, portraying russia as a bastion of Christian, traditional,family values.
In the previous “degenerate Russia” series we discussed Russia’s insanely high divorce rates, rampant domestic violence, high murder rates, thriving neo-Nazi culture, corruption of the Orthodox Church, and their massive demographic problem:
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll explore how Russia is working with Iran, and how the recent Israel–US strikes on Iran could affect the war in Ukraine. Iran has been one of Russia’s key allies in their genocidal war, but in reality the partnership is deeply one-sided.
1/21
Historically, Russia/USSR has been involved in numerous wars in the Middle East, invading Afghanistan for nearly a decade and desperately trying to keep Syria’s authoritarian leader, al-Assad, in power before his eventual downfall.
2/21
While initially supportive of Israel, the Soviet Union quickly pivoted to backing its enemies, fueling antisemitism, terrorism, and chaos in an already tense region. At times, this meant near-open war, like when Soviet Air Force MiG-21s were shot down by Israel over Egypt.
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll re-introduce a Latvian politician and former MEP, Tatjana Ždanoka. She’s best-known for her history in the Communist Party of Latvia, for her pro-Russian politics in the country, and her connections to Russian intelligence.
1/22
Based on Ždanoka’s speeches and social media posts, she has a deep hatred towards the people of Latvia. The reason for this can only be speculated, but part of it could be due to her paternal family being killed by the Latvian Auxiliary Police,…
2/22
…a paramilitary force supported by the Nazis, during the early 1940s. Ždanoka became politically active in the late 80s. She was one of the leaders of Interfront, a political party that supported Latvia remaining part of the USSR.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce the main themes of Russian disinformation on TikTok. Each day, there are thousands of new videos promoting pro-Kremlin narratives and propaganda.
It’s worth noting that Russians can only access European TikTok via VPN.
1/10
There is currently a massive TikTok campaign aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. The videos typically feature relatively attractive young women and focus on themes of nationalism and cultural heritage.
2/10
Ironically, many of these videos from Moscow or St. Petersburg are deceptively edited to portray Ukraine in a false light — claiming there is no war and that international aid is being funneled to corrupt elites.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about Finland and how pro-Kremlin propagandists have become more active in the Finnish political space since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For the first time since 2022, they’ve gained some political power in Finland.
1/16
Russia’s political strategy in countries with Russian-speaking minorities (such as Finland and the Baltics) is typically quite similar: it seeks to rally these minorities around issues like language and minority rights, and then frames the situation as oppression.
2/16
At the same time, Russian speakers are extremely wary and skeptical of local media, and instead tend to follow Russian domestic outlets like Russia-1 and NTV, thereby reinforcing an almost impenetrable information bubble.