Trump defends influencer with antisemitic and racist history: report

An influencer convicted for election interference and with a history of sharing racist and antisemitic content is being defended by Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr., according to a new CNN report.

The former president posted video earlier this month slamming President Joe Biden and "henchmen" he accused of violating the rights of Douglass Mackey, convicted earlier this year of conspiracy to suppress votes in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump Jr. also praised Mackey's Twitter content as “maybe my favorite Twitter account of all time.”

As CNN points out, Mackey's Twitter account regularly posted hateful content that included racist caricatures and slurs. He also shared antisemitic posts that referenced gas chambers and praised Hitler, according to the report.

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A December 2015 post, since archived, states, “The jews fear that Donald Trump is Hitler because they know that they have done great evil in America. They fear justice will be done."

During his trial, Mackey claimed that he had changed his ways and started therapy, according to CNN. After his conviction and appeal, Mackey became a cause célèbre with conservatives who argue his conviction was a violation of the First Amendment's free speech protections.

Trump and Trump Jr. are not the only conservatives to support Mackey, CNN notes. Supporters also include Tucker Carlson and presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, whose spokesperson said the candidate didn't know about Mackey's racist content.

Read the full report over at CNN.