In today's #vatniksoup, I'll introduce a Dutch right-wing activist, conspiracy theorist & social media personality, Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@evavlaar). She's best-known for her promotion of the "decline of the Decadent West" trope, and for promotion of pro-Kremlin narratives.
1/19
Eva's main audience is conservative traditionalists, and basically everything she does revolves around this theme. She also promotes various conspiracy theories about the "global elites", COVID-19 and vaccines, World Economic Forum and digitalisation of society.
2/19
She's also a raging populist, and is not afraid to take current events and rally around them to get more attention to her conspiratorial ramblings. Recently, she's been involved with the protests by European farmers against increasing costs and tiny margins.
3/19
In 2016, she joined the far-right political party, Forum voor Democratie (FvD). Some years later she became an intern at the FvD faction in the European Parliament, and soon left her position at the university in order to fully focus on her political career with the FvD.
4/19
FvD leader Thierry Baudet soon announced that Eva would fill the 5th spot on FvD's candidate list for the House of Representatives.Few months later FvD faced a huge crisis when its youth wing had made some extreme remarks, including praise of Anders Breivik & Brenton Tarrant.5/19
Soon after this, many members resigned from the party. Eva was one of them - she joined a morning talk show in which she announced that she had chosen sides against the FvP leader and her former boyfriend (or "fling", as Eva called it), Thierry Baudet.
6/19
For the time being, she left politics and focused more on political commentary and promoting herself on podcasts, talk shows and right-wing political events. She promotes various conspiracy theories, and often talks about the "The Great Reset" and its dangers.
7/19
In 2021, she appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight, stating that Europe is becoming "a tyrannical regime, of mass surveillance and control". In the same year, she also worked as presenter of her own YouTube talk show "Let's Talk About It".
8/19
The show was part of Swedish media outlet Riks, which is affiliated with the far-right party Sverigedemokraterna. It seems that the show ran for only 10 episodes. She was also working as a legal advisor at a law firm, but her employment was terminated just after 4 months.
9/19
Eva then continued her career as a political commentator and speaker, calling for people to "reject Globalism and embrace God" at events like the Brussels National Conservatism Conference. She also became a regular commentator on European matters at Carlson's show on Fox.
10/19
She's also appeared as a regular commentator on Mark Steyn's YouTube show, on which she's commented - among other things - about how "young girls are being sacrificed on the altar of mass migration," and how the governments are trying to control us with digital currencies.
11/19
Like most conspiracy theorists, Eva often creates doomsday scenarios around topics she has no clue about, like for example cybersecurity and the threat of "cyber pandemics", which according to her would lead to martial law and the adoption of Europe-wide mass surveillance.
12/19
Eva doesn't speak a lot about Ukraine, but when she does, she condemns it as a pointless money sink. She's also claimed that the whole thing is just another scheme to make weapon manufacturers and companies like BlackRock even wealthier.
13/19
After the Carlson interview with Putin, she praised the dictator's 30 minute revisionist history rant, stating that it has "current political relevance", and that no other leader could give such a detailed (biased and made-up) "historical account" as Putin did.
14/19
She also commented on the Tucker video about the "low prices" in Russian supermarkets, stating that the Western standard of living is low "by design" and that it was "made by people who hate us." Almost half of Russians state that their salary doesn't cover basic spending.
15/19
It doesn't take a genius to see the conclusion here - Putin as a traditionalist is in the right by "defending Russia" and the "decadent West" in the wrong by giving up all power to "global elites" and by sending military and monetary aid to Ukraine. The whole narrative...
16/19
... is based on a silly conspiracy theory there is some kind of clandestine power that is trying to enslave the whole of humanity through degradation of "conservative values", lockdowns, vaccines, mass surveillance, and depopulation.
As is tradition.
17/19
As a traditionalist, Eva's been desperately looking for that far-right love of her life - between 2012 and 2014 she dated far-right fascist Julien Rochedy, after which she had a "fling" with Baudet. In 2022 she got engaged with Will Witt, but I don't think that worked out.
18/19
Oh, and Eva: if you're reading this, here are some of the lies Putin told to Carlson:
And below is Tucker making excuses why he didn't ask Putin any tough questions and basically calling him a killer.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.
1/17
For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.
2/17
One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.
1/22
Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.
2/22
JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.
1/18
As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.
2/18
Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.
1/25
“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.
2/25
The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Lithuanian far-right politician and Seimas member Remigijus Žemaitaitis. He’s best known for his extremist political views and for falling for a scam that convinced him he was flying to New York to meet Elon Musk.
1/17
Like many vatniks before him, Remigijus worked as a lawyer before entering the world of politics. Once just another politician, he gradually embraced far-right nationalism and populism, following a trend seen across Europe over the past 15 years.
2/17
Instead of real policies, he tapped into fear, resentment, and anger, turning 4chan talking points into a populist political strategy. His speeches became more extreme, targeting minorities, Western institutions, and Lithuania’s support for Ukraine.