avatarManny Otiko

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Pro-Trump Social Media Site Owned by Chinese Billionaire

Gettr soon to be gone

Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui (YouTube screen grab/Manny Otiko)

When you study politics as long as I have, you find a continuing streak of hypocrisy among politicians, especially Republicans. They usually do the opposite of what they say. A great example of this is FOX News Channel (FNC,) which bills itself as “fair and balanced.” That was an inside joke because FNC is one of the most biased media organizations in history!

Still, I was surprised by the recent revelations in The Washington Post that Gettr, a right-wing alternative to Twitter, is owned by Chinese national Guo Wengui. He’s also known as Ho Wan Kwok, Miles Guo and Miles Kwok.

Gettr was created in 2021 after Republicans claimed tech giants, such as Facebook and Twitter, had an anti-right-wing bias. Of course, they didn’t, but right-wingers harped on this so much that Facebook and Twitter bent to their will. However, some Republicans became so frustrated with the tech companies that they created their own platforms which were supposed to have a more right-wing bent.

This hasn’t gone well because most of the right-wing Twitter clones, such as Truth Social, Parler and Gettr, are struggling. They’re also minnows compared to giants such as Twitter and Facebook. For example, Gettr only has about 3 million users, compared to Twitter, which has about 400 million users.

Republicans on Gettr’s Payroll

According to The Washington Post, Guo and his business partner William Je not only controlled Gettr, but they also managed the messaging and had the keys to the back end of the website. This has proven a major problem since Guo is currently under arrest for a billion-dollar fraud case and Le has absconded. The article also reveals Gettr made substantial payments to several leading Republican figures such as digital mammies Diamond and Silk, Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk and Dinesh D’Souza. So, they were all taking money from a Chinese national.

“The revelations show that a man accused of massive fraud on two continents climbed high into Trump’s political sphere and dictated messaging at a social media site that reaches millions of Americans,” said The Post.

There are many other problems with Gettr. First, Guo is already a fugitive from the Chinese government. He is also an associate of Bannon, a former White House advisor, and a frequent Mar-a-Lago visitor. Again, this is ironic, because Bannon has also associated with European neo-Nazis and has advocated a white nationalist agenda. But he is associated with a Chinese national, go figure?

However, Gettr’s problem seems to be a common issue with some right-wing social media sites. They all seem to be involved with some form of foreign financing. Truth Social has received about $16 million in Russian money and John Matze, the founder of Parler, is married to a Russian. This is ironic because many of these sites are pro-Trump and allegedly support his “America First” message. It’s hard to take that seriously when they are funded by foreign sources and have other international ties. (By the way, FNC is controlled by the Murdoch family, who are originally from Australia.)

Bannon Likes Neo-Nazis and the Chinese?

There are many other problems with Gettr. First, Guo is already a fugitive from the Chinese government. He is also an associate of Bannon, a former White House advisor, and a frequent Mar-a-Lago visitor. Again, this is ironic, because Bannon has also associated with European neo-Nazis and has advocated a white nationalist agenda. But he is associated with a Chinese national, go figure?

Sometimes this union of American bigots and foreigners leads to hilarious disaster, as when Saudi monarch Prince Mohammad Bin Salman urged his supporters to flee Twitter. They migrated to Parler, where the resident white supremacists greeted them with Islamophobic abuse!

Also, Bannon was first arrested for his involvement in a build-the-wall scam, authorities took him into custody on Guo’s yacht! This is more Bannon BS. He likes to portray himself as a populist who supports blue-collar workers, but he also stays at high-end hotels and apparently hangs out on a billionaire’s yacht. I get the sneaking feeling that, like Trump, Bannon views blue-collar voters as easy marks. He uses their resentment to get votes, but ultimately, he wants to pick their pockets and doesn’t believe in the message he’s selling.

Shady Leadership

Then there is Jason Miller, who served as CEO and the face of Gettr, even though Guo was the power behind the throne. Miller served as a spokesperson on Trump’s presidential campaigns and has his own scandalous past. He was infamous for trying to slip an abortion pill into his pregnant stripper mistress’ smoothie. That stunt sent her to the hospital. By the way, he was married at the time. Miller also impregnated a Trump campaign co-worker, also while married.

It amazes me that someone so shady still gets high-level positions. Unsurprisingly, Miller was also dishonest with Gettr employees. According to The Post, he told them the company was being financed by an “international investment fund,” not a fugitive Chinese conman!

Apart from the scandal-ridden track record of Gettr’s leadership, another troubling fact is the site promoted far-right propaganda.

“In 2021, Graphika reported that Guo had pushed people to attend the Jan. 6 rally, using the #StoptheSteal hashtag. When the attack failed, Guo switched to amplifying claims that the violence that day had been the work of antifa infiltrators, Graphika said,” said The Post. “Guo also has encouraged followers to protest in person against other Chinese expatriates, including other anti-Communists he sees as rivals, and even court officials who have ruled against him.”

Now with Guo under arrest and Le on the run, the site’s future is uncertain. But I predict that like Truth Social, Gettr won’t be around next year. Its demise won’t be mourned.

Politics
Propaganda
Media
Social Media
Media Criticism
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