CATTURDS: Team DeSantis desperate to capture MAGA influencers

CATTURDS: Team DeSantis desperate to capture MAGA influencers

Team DeSantis seems to understand that they’re behind a bit with the MAGA influencers, a weakness they’re now urgently trying to remedy.

Of course, DeSantis is “weak” in this area primarily because many of the influencers are already locked in with Trump.

The DeSantis campaign finds itself needing to peel the movers from MAGA influencers to “America First, Extra Crispy-Trump, No Baggage DeSantis.”

And thus, the battle for Republican political amplification has begun, inflaming right-wing passions and anger.

It’s just the beginning.

Hilariously, one of the big “gets” in this war isn’t a “Catturd” (an aptly-named MAGA online hero), but the Babylon Bee.

The Bee is the Right Wing’s answer to The Onion, a fact that is beyond absurd for two reasons.

First, and most obviously, only The Onion can do what The Onion does, and the many that have tried to copy the format have flamed out with regularity.

It is hard to be humorous every day with “news” ranging from politics to sports to “local.”

Second, while the Babylon Bee is a hyper-partisan Christian outlet, The Onion is not.

It was in nearly every way neutral unless bemoaning mass shootings as “nothing can be done” is considered political.

Thus “normal” has become “woke” and liberal.

During the Trump presidency, the Bee took shots at Trump’s enemies, which pleased Trump immensely.

So often, the disgraced twice-impeached president took to re-tweeting some of their stories—sometimes seemingly unaware that they were satire.

Regardlessthere are indications that the DeSantis camp is giving the Bee some honey, perhaps trying to move the hive. The entire situation erupted into internecine GOP warfare over an unlikely individual’s actions, according to Rolling Stone:

“[I]n February, the relationship between Trumpworld and the Bee soured when anti-Muslimactivistand far-right Trump backerLaura Loomer noticed a $21,500 payment from the Friends of Ron DeSantis PAC to the Bee made during the governor’s race and tweeted that Seth Dillon — owner of The Babylon Bee — had claimed to her that the money was for “joke/speechwriting.” In text messages reviewed by Rolling Stone, Dillon claimed to Loomer that the payments were about helping DeSantis fight Democrats, not Trump.”

The “find” put Bee’s CEO Dillon immediately on the defensive.

He said that the payment was for nothing more than jokes.

More dubiously, the Florida-based publisher said that they could be thought of as “speech writers.”

“We help him find funny angles on Democrats,” said Dillon.We don’t attack Trump for him. That’s silly and false. They have never suggested that we write anything about Trump.”

Not yet.

Maybe.

And if DeSantis is funnier than Trump in ripping liberals, doesn’t that favor DeSantis? (We’re trying to fan the flames.)

The website world is a tough business, turning down “free money” by simply picking a side while also infuriating and turning away many loyal readers.

It’s an ironic choice for a comedy befitting a site competing as a “conservative” Onion. 

Meanwhile, Trump took an introspective and patient approach understanding that this is an inherent political dynamic and… See?

It’s hard to write humorously day after day

The reality?

Trump threw a fit.

Laura Loomer is a loathsome individual renowned for her anti-Muslim views that led her to chain herself to Twitter headquarters after being permanently banned before Elon Musk revived her account.

Naturally, she made sure Trump saw the DeSantis payments to the Bee.

After that, Trump immediately fat-thumbed in a message on Truth Social, blasting DeSantis and The Babylon Bee back in March, before DeSantis had even declared his candidacy. It reads:

“Why is Ron DeSanctimonious paying The Babylon Bee, a non-entity, $5,000 a month, so far $21,500, if he’s not running for President?”

“Just because his Poll Numbers are tanking, probably because of his desire to cut Social Security and Medicare, doesn’t allow him to campaign without an announcement! You don’t spend that much money on The Babylon Bee if you’re running for Governor, in fact, you don’t spend money on The Babylon Bee if you’re running for anything!”

Sad!

Trump so hoped that DeSantis wouldn’t enter the race.

For his part, Dillon recognizes that infuriating over half his readership is a bad business plan and is still trying to play it down the middle.

He refused to comment on the Rolling Stone report.

But during a Twitter Spaces recording last week, Dillon was heard saying, “If a campaign pays you for a specific task or a specific email rental or whatever it is, that doesn’t mean you’re in their pocket, and you’re gonna do what they say.”

Generally, one follows the instructions of the person whose name is on the check.

But Dillon continues to maintain that he is a MAGA man because he “voted for Trump” in both elections and is good friends with the Trump family.

Dillon did not say that he would vote for Trump in 2024 and noted that the Babylon Bee would not be making an endorsement.

Except, this isn’t about endorsements.

It is about MAGA influencers and the eyeballs they reach.

And if the Bee writes positive articles about DeSantis while remaining largely silent on Trump? Well, it could still claim “neutrality” between DeSantis and Trump.

But it would influence Right-Wing thought.

And that’s the whole point. DeSantis’s camp finally gets it.

This piece is based in large part on reporting by Adam Rawnsley and Asawib Suebsaeng of Rolling Stone.

I can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com and @JasonMiciak

Editor’s note: This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author. 

 

Jason Miciak

Jason Miciak is an associate editor and opinion writer for Occupy Democrats. He's a Canadian-American who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He is a trained attorney, but for the last five years, he's devoted his time to writing political news and analysis. He enjoys life on the Gulf Coast as a single dad to a 15-year-old daughter. Hobbies include flower pots, cooking, and doing what his daughter tells him they're doing. Sign up to get all of my posts by email right here: