Right-Wing Twitter Mocks MSNBC Clip on Racist ‘Alt-Right’ Memes — Except It’s 5 Years Old. And Fake. Here’s The REAL Clip
Conservatives on Twitter bit down hard on an obviously fake MSNBC clip on “alt-right meme code words” that’s actually five years old — and we tracked down the real clip it was based on.
On Monday, a Twitter user calling himself “Elon’s Musk” tweeted a video along with the caption “MSNBC literally has no idea what they are talking about lmao”.
The video is a camera capture of an MSNBC “Special Report” featuring the onscreen graphic “ALT-RIGHT FROG CULT USES SECRET CODE OF SEXIST, RACIST, & HOMOPHOBIC WORDS.”
MSNBC literally has no idea what they are talking about lmao pic.twitter.com/qkgQnjOy2U
— Elon’s Musk (@andItoldyaso) January 30, 2023
“Secret Code Words” identified on screen include “Snowflake” (“Person of Color”), “S.J.W.” (“Stingy Jew”) and others, but the tweet video does not include audio.
The post has racked up 1.3 million video views and a ton of engagement from conservatives and MAGA Twitter accounts with big followings, as massive number of general retweets, replies, and reposts on the right.
This is amazing. Almost feels like an inside job. https://t.co/QmvMBd7HiX
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) January 30, 2023
MSNBC literally gets EVERY single one of these wrong. I mean, even a broken clock is right every once in a while. https://t.co/4WU8fZx3gi
— @amuse (@amuse) January 30, 2023
No way https://t.co/hP2uLoxzde
— Sean Fitzgerald (Actual Justice Warrior) (@IamSean90) January 30, 2023
They're just redefining the meanings, they know exactly what they're doing.
Look at the way it telegraphs and flashes. This is misinformation on purpose.
— Hammond of Texas (@FieldNas) January 30, 2023
MSNBC is so far out of reality they're just making descriptions up about what words and symbols mean haha. No wonder lamestream media is failing. https://t.co/19Qmnmkf5I
— Joker (@BachelorJoker) January 30, 2023
This is who the left trusts to tell the truth in media. Reporters who can't even do the simple task of googling or using urban dictionary to confirm the details of their story. They just eat up the trolled info they received like hot soup and run with it. Pathetic. https://t.co/2bNxzWbZmc
— Mountain Valley Girl (@NCMVG) January 31, 2023
The source for the tweet is a YouTube that does include audio — which is obviously fake — and we tracked down a copy of the original video the capture was made from — which was even more obviously fake:
Someone tweeted a copy with audio by reply, to which the original poster responded by claiming it showed how real it was, followed by bragging about the virality of the clip.
Here is the audio since it seems impossible that they are this stupid 😂https://t.co/u2rzngwJQQ
— Elon's Musk (@andItoldyaso) January 30, 2023
This tweet now has more views than a MSNBC show 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/UhUKzNsIrA
— Elon's Musk (@andItoldyaso) January 31, 2023
We, in a thankless exercise that history will not long remember, tracked down the actual original MSNBC clip that was the basis for this, by sleuthing out the news crawl on the bottom of the screen.
Turns out it’s from a May 12, 2017 episode of MSNBC Live With Hallie Jackson that featured coverage of then-President Donald Trump’s firing of James Comey and the aftermath thereof.
Watch the clips above, sort of via MSNBC.
