Thread by @P_Kallioniemi

In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce American social media personality David Freeman, AKA Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman). He’s best known for spreading political disinformation on X and shamelessly sucking up to Trump, Putin, and other authoritarian leaders.

1/22

David is a textbook example of someone profiting from MAGA grievance politics. He uses extreme, provocative language to farm engagement on X and never hesitates to flatter anyone who might give him more exposure — or money.

2/22

But David wasn’t always like this. At some point, in his mid-40s, he even tried a real job: he trained to become a cop. He spent three years with the Metro Transit PD, but after that he either got fired or quit, and never looked back.

3/22

Freeman also started several plastic companies in Texas, all using the same address. They looked serious at first, but like most of his projects, nothing came of them. The businesses and their web domains failed quickly and then quietly disappeared.

4/22

For a long time, “Gunther” hid behind his silly pseudonym. But recently he revealed his real identity during an interview. Since then, he’s been desperately trying to insert himself into the MAGA media ecosystem, with rather sad results.

5/22

As you can see, there’s nothing remarkable about David offline. He’s just a boomer who failed at pretty much everything he ever tried. That may explain why he created his online alter ego, Gunther Eagleman: a fantasy projection of himself as a political MAGA pundit.

6/22

And oh boy, does he commit to the bit. These days, David spends most of his time “owning libs” and losing arguments with 20-something Democratic influencers on X. Like Phillip “Catturd” Buchanan, Freeman’s only source of income seems to be social media ad revenue.

7/22

Elon’s monetization model on X is perfect for grifters: it doesn’t require facts and can be boosted by armies of bots and troll farms. Freeman’s content thrives in this system, sitting right at the center, and Elon himself has even retweeted many of his posts.

8/22

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: behind the scenes is a much bigger system, one that gives large accounts far more money than Elon’s ad share ever could. Today, people are offered huge sums for posts pushing certain topics or agendas.

9/22

Marketing firms, crypto scammers, and political operatives are paying up to $500 per post to accounts willing to shill their agenda. One scheme was exposed by pro-Trump account @MJTruthUltra, who leaked messages from political scammer @RyanAFournier.

10/22

Fournier offered “$250 per post plus impression bonuses,” adding: “Never anything anti-Trump, MAGA, or his cabinet.” Amusingly, these rules are nearly identical to those given to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s trolls at Russia’s first troll farm, the “Internet Research Agency”.

11/22

Fournier himself once ran a crypto scam with a “Restore the Republic” coin, cashing out after pumping the price. He was also arrested in 2023 for allegedly beating up his girlfriend. In today’s MAGA world, these count as résumé highlights.

12/22

This shouldn’t be news to anyone who’s been reading my soups, but there’s once again an important point to make here: social media is not real. It’s completely fake, with fake/paid engagement on topics often coming not from the creator themselves but from external actors.

13/22

So whenever David posts, you should view his content through this lens.

When he claimed there was “no video content from the war in Ukraine” — one of the most well-documented conflicts in history over the last three years — who was paying him?

14/22

Or when he lies about “corrupt Ukraine,” claiming Zelenskyy bought a $75 million yacht or his wife a $5 million Bugatti — who’s paying him then?

15/22

French soup about the fake Bugatti story:

https://x.com/vatniksoup_fr/status/1808602696968196275

Hell, even his infamous love letter to Putin in April 2024 was likely paid for by a MAGA pro-Kremlin marketing campaign. David has claimed he’s never taken money from a “foreign entity” or “foreigner” to post on social media, yet he gladly accepts BTC donations on X.

16/22

Recently, “Gunther” joined a campaign promoting India’s friendship with Trump and MAGA. The same effort was pushed by big accounts like @CNviolations and @DefiantLs, who, like David, are tied to the Resist the Mainstream (@ResisttheMS) network.

17/22

If you believe all of David’s 1.5 million followers are real, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Most come from troll and bot farms, something Elon could wipe out instantly, but won’t, since they amplify his political agenda and make X’s user stats look prettier.

18/22

When David posts, facts don’t matter. On the Community Notes leaderboard, he ranks #146 with 63 corrections. Like many boomers, he often falls for AI slop, and much of his flagged content is either low-quality AI images (with bad spelling!) or blatant lies about Democrats.

19/22

“Gunther” is likely pulling in tens of thousands each month from his polarizing, rage-baiting posts, and that’s not even counting the grifter cash he pockets for pushing whatever topic MAGA pundits use to distract from the Epstein files.

20/22

David has no spine, and his political (cultist?) stance shifts entirely with whatever Trump says. Contradicting himself is never a problem. And that India campaign he was likely paid for? “Gunther” took the money — then turned around and attacked India once Trump did.

21/22

To conclude, David is basically a dumber, less dangerous version of @bennyjohnson. With no charisma and zero real skills, he sticks to boomer-level shitposting on X for profit, grifting for whoever pays him most.

How pathetic is that?

22/22

The 2nd edition of “Vatnik Soup — The Ultimate Guide to Russian Disinformation” is officially out!

You can order your copy here:
vatniksoup.com/en/books/

“Eagleman” is a terrible alias for someone who thinks so little of his own country.

Which new nickname do you think suits David best?