Trump Jr. just launched a vicious unprovoked attack against the Florida school massacre survivors

The right-wing campaign to smear and discredit the surviving students of the Stoneman-Douglas high school massacre reached its highest levels this morning when it became clear that Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest and most hated son, was “liking” tweets that advanced disgusting conspiracy theories about the kids who dared to voice their desires to not be murdered on their way to chemistry class.

This morning, the TrumpAlert Twitter bot that monitors activity by the Trump family let the world know that Donald Trump Jr. had “liked” two tweets that accused outspoken shooting survivor David Hogg of being part of some liberal mainstream media plot to attack gun rights and the President.

Add your name to demand Trump & Congress act to prevent gun violence. THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE NOT ENOUGH!

The Gateway Pundit, a right-wing propaganda outlet that regularly publishes unsourced conspiracy theories, targeted student activist David Hogg and attempted to craft a narrative which somehow linked the Trump-Russia investigation to the shooting because Hogg’s father is a retired FBI agent – meaning “not working for the FBI anymore.”

“One student, in particular, David Hogg has been astonishingly articulate and highly skilled at propagating a new anti-Conservative/anti-Trump narrative behind the recent school shooting. Few have seen this type of rapid media play before, and when they have it has come from well-trained political operatives and MSM commentators.

Why would the child of an FBI agent be used as a pawn for anti-Trump rhetoric and anti-gun legislation? Because the FBI is only looking to curb YOUR Constitutional rights and INCREASE their power. We’ve seen similar moves by them many times over. This is just another disgusting example of it.”

Donald Trump Jr.’s “liking” of the tweet will place it in the timelines of his 2.26 million Twitter followers, endorsing and promoting the baseless and truly despicable conspiracy theories that blood profiteers and gun culture warriors are using to attack a kid who just watched seventeen of his friends die en masse.

For the president’s son to be endorsing a targeted smear campaign against a high school kid who just wants to his fellow kids to be able to go to school without fear of being killed is beyond reprehensible – but it’s what we’ve come to expect from Donald Trump Jr., whose capacity for casual cruelty is matched only by his father’s.

Natalie Dickinson

Natalie is a staff writer for the Washington Press. She graduated from Oberlin College in 2010 and has been freelance blogging and writing for progressive outlets ever since.