Thread by @ParkerKrex

This is the crazy true story of how a Trump-appointed election denier went on to start a dating app and is now leading a Christian nationalist project to alter American governance as we know it. This story only gets crazier as it goes on, so strap in.

1/18

John McEntee was hired in the early days of the Trump administration to be the President’s body man. He went everywhere Trump did, and was always right by his side. He was even referred to by some as “Deputy President.” However, this came to an abrupt end.

2/18

Upon a background check and security clearance review, the Trump White House found out that he was under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security for financial crimes. He was quickly fired by then-Chief of Staff John Kelly.

3/18

Immediately upon his departure, the Trump campaign swooped him up to be a senior advisor, despite his ongoing financial crime investigation.

4/18

In January 2020 he was rehired by the White House to lead the Presidential Personnel Office. PPO is in charge of hiring/firing all political appointees in the administration. McEntee had no management experience.

5/18

President Trump tasked McEntee with removing all appointees who were not deemed sufficiently loyal. McEntee turned PPO into a secret police force.

6/18

In one instance, an administration official was reprimanded for liking a Taylor Swift photo on Instagram since she was pro-Biden. But McEntee used his position in power for more than just hiring/firing matters…

7/18

McEntee led a concentrated effort to convince Mike Pence and his staff that they were able to overturn the election results on January 6th.

8/18

McEntee incorrectly asserted that Thomas Jefferson "Used His Position as VP to Win" the 1801 election, which McEntee claimed "proves that the VP has, at a minimum, a substantial discretion to address issues with the electoral process."

9/18

After January 6th and Biden’s inauguration, McEntee focused on starting a tech company. He eventually landed on the idea of “The Right Stuff,” a conservatives-only dating app with the slogan “profiles without pronouns.”

10/18

He even obtained huge name investors such as Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal and noted Republican donor. Thiel say if as part of a trend for conservatives to create alternative conservative media outlets.

11/18

The dating app isn’t doing to well, mainly because not enough women have signed up. McEntee’s marketing for the app consists of various TikToks of “gotcha” arguments against liberals, all of which contain some sort of rhetorical fallacy.

12/18

I can’t even explain how crazy some of these TikToks are. You just have to search him up yourself and watch them. In one recent one he says he gives homeless people counterfeit money so that they are arrested when they try to spend it. I wish I was kidding.

13/18

Now, McEntee leads a portion of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s plan to change American governance as we know it if Trump is elected.

14/18

McEntee is in charge of Project 2025’s personnel database of Trump loyal government appointees. This is described as “institutionalizing Trumpism” in the federal government for decades to come.

15/18

Some of Project 2025’s other goals are to immediately ban abortion, “recognize America as a Christian nation,” repeal all climate portions of the Inflation Reduction Act, and put America back on the gold standard.

16/18

If Trump is reelected, McEntee will have an incredible amount of influence upon the administration. He would likely be the man in charge of changing American governance as we know it by filling the government with Trump-aligned employees rather than merit.

17/18

I couldn’t fit everything in this overview, so if you found this interesting I highly recommend reading @jonkarl’s piece on McEntee in the Atlantic. It covers most of what I did + more. Additionally, check out McEntee’s socials… it’s crazy.

18/18 theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…