In today's #vatniksoup, I'll discuss the anatomy of a grifter. As a case study, I'll talk about @jacksonhinklle, and how he's utilizing social media to make money and become a popular yet highly controversial figure online.
1/18
My #vatniksoup on Hinkle was published already back in Feb 2023, but a lot has happened since then: his YouTube channel has been removed due to the massive amount of disinformation he spread, and he was also banned from TikTok.
After this, he started focusing heavily on X/Twitter. His account is the fastest growing account on the platform, and 5 minutes don't pass without him advertising his 3USD "premium subscription" with no notable benefits to the subscribers.
3/18
There are two important characteristics that most "good" grifters possess: 1) they disregard the truth, and 2) are completely cynical in their worldview and they basically have no moral compass - in short, they go where the money is.
4/18
Jackson usually goes on the offensive when his income is at jeopardy. After @elonmusk said that Community Noted posts will get demonetized, he immediately claimed that "Zionists" have "hijacked" these Notes and mobilized people to rate any notes on his posts as "unhelpful".
5/18
You see, Hinkle is actually very good with social media and community building. He knows how people are lured into BS & he for example uses his relatively large Discord server to mobilize people to attack or "ratio" any posts that criticizes Jackson or his disgusting grift.
6/18
Partly due to this, his account on X/Twitter has become MASSIVE: as of today, he has close to 2 million followers and allegedly over 7000 subscribers. By my estimates, he is currently making anything between 20 000 and 30 000 USD a month on this platform alone.
7/18
Out of the nearly 2 million followers, 1,5 million have started following him in the last 30 days, after he switched his pro-Kremlin narrative to a pro-Hamas one. It also shows the cynical approach of switching narratives overnight as long as it benefits his wallet.
8/18
And as you can guess, Hinkle wasn't always like this; let's look at his transformation throughout the years.
Still in 2019, when he was running for San Clemente City Council, he ran on the LGBT+ platform, rainbow flags and all. He was also a big "Bernie bro", heavily...
9/18
...supporting Bernie Sanders' left-wing policies. His ex-girlfriend, Sarah Brady, considered him a "democratic socialist" at that time, but some time after she broke up with him, something changed: Jackson become a Andrew Tate -type macho misogynist, condemning...
10/18
..."OnlyFans girls" while at the same time trying to get them to date him. Then, he started going against the "woke culture" and associated himself with @jordanbpeterson, a pro-Kremlin psychologist who would later strongly support Netanyahu's efforts against Hamas.
11/18
It's worth noting, that Hinkle's social media growth is by no means organic. For example, he gained hundreds of thousands of followers in just a few days during his recent trip to Moscow. Another surge came right after Hamas' terrorist attack on 7 Oct 2023.
12/18
Of course supporting Hamas is yet another opportunist scheme to make more money. Below you can see a video from around a year ago, where Hinkle praises Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for his "great collaboration" with the likes of Putin and Xi.
13/18
Then, just a week ago he shared an AI-generated image of bloody Bibi, calling for the prosecution of him for war crimes. Naturally, he's called one of Putin's closest allies, Bashar al-Assad a "hero". But in reality, al-Assad (like most other Arab leaders)...
14/18
...doesn't give a shit about Palestinians. As a matter of fact, he sieged and bombed the Palestinian refugee outpost, Yarmouk, located in Damascus, Syria already back in 2013. This led to significant deterioration in conditions for the Palestinians inside the camp.
15/18
Whether Hinkle is a Russian operative or not is irrelevant - this has nothing to do with his values or morals. He seems to be the kind of person who'll do or say anything to earn money and get attention.
For example, he recently challenged @benshapiro to a debate.
16/18
Post-truth society allows people like Donald Trump, @stillgray and @jacksonhinklle to thrive. As there are no consequences to lying or benefits to telling the truth, these people will keep on grifting and making money and gaining power through lies.
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.