In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce an American social media personality, conspiracy theorist and neo-Nazi, Angelo John Gage AKA Lucas Gage (@Lucas_Gage_). He's best-known for his rabid antisemitism, support for white nationalism, and his anti-Ukrainian statements on X.
1/16
In 2015, Gage was chairman of the National Youth Front (NYF), a far-right organization that's goal, according to Gage was "declaring our freedom from this oppressive, anti-white, globalist government that has been slowly subverting our country since the 1960's."
2/16
In 2016, Angelo started creating racist videos on YouTube, discussing topics such as "anti-racist is a code word for anti-white", "diversity is white genocide" and making videos with titles like "Make Whites Great Again".
3/16
As a clout chaser & opportunist,he soon realized that white supremacy is a losing strategy & after Trump's victory moved on to "ethno-nationalism" and populism. Ironically, he then stated that he's going to "get away from this internet bull****" and get into local politics.
4/16
He admired Trump's way to "attract broad support from Americans through a simple, hard-hitting and emotionally appealing style," and tried to distance himself from racist and antisemitic views as he realized that it would prevent him from getting political power.
5/16
In 2020, he published a blog post titled "My Journey In and Out of the Rabbit Hole of Racism," still being a rabid racist but now calling it "trait realism," while defending eugenics, antisemitism and opposing non-white immigration.
6/16
Basically, every narrative Gage spreads is revolving around Jews. He claims that the fabricated Russian text "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" is real. His X/Twitter feed mostly consists of anti-Semitic content and his criticism of Zionism.
7/16
In Feb 2023, Angelo tweeted that Russians had "intercepted a submarine in the Black Sea carrying a HUGE shipment of cocaine," then claiming that Zelenskyy reroutes military aid to Mexico in exchange to cocaine, and that Zelenskyy himself uses the dope.
8/16
According to him, "Jewish Supremacist are the MAIN DRIVER behind the Ukraine/Russia war." He's also spread the lie that the casualties are 7:1 in favor to Russia and that the US has "jihadist assets pulled from Syria" to assist Ukrainians with their defense.
9/16
He's also attacked the "Kyiv regime" and called for Ukraine to "kick out Zelensky and all the parasites" and stated that "I want Russia to feel secure at its borders." Angelo's also falsely stated that Zelenskyy refuses to have peace negotiations:
Naturally, he's called Zelenskyy Israeli asset, suggesting that he'll eventually flee to Israel after "Ukraine falls". He claims that Zelenskyy and his leadership takes orders from US/NATO and that he doesn't "give a shit about Ukraine."
In Jul 2023, he was a guest on RT.
11/16
Angelo is also trying to connect the situation in the Middle East to the war in Ukraine, by sharing a conspiracy theory called The Heavenly Jerusalem Project. It's a fake narrative over the plan to reduce the native Ukrainian population and replace it with Jewish settlers.
12/16
Angelo has legally changed his name to Lucas Gage and is now using this name on X/Twitter and YouTube. He's probably trying to wipe his past as a raging neo-Nazi and participating in far-right organizations in the past.
13/16
Before 7 Oct 2023, Gage's account went mostly unnoticed. After Hamas' terrorist attack against Israeli civilians, Angelo started promoting posts around the #GazaGenocide hashtag, gaining over 100 000 followers in one month. He's posted about the "evil Zionists" and a...
14/16
...summary of the fake scripture The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and quotes from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. In one of his more popular posts, he claimed that we should "STOP BEING SOFT ON JEWS!" and "that God is telling us to go HARD on them; they deserve it."
15/16
Angelo most probably does all this for attention and money. His book, "Thoughts and Reflections on Life", looks like 1 dollar store version of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. As is tradition, his angry and racist tirades have also been monetized by Elon's X.
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.