This was posted in the R vs D thread, but I think it deserves it's own thread.
[url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/08/17/ron-filipkowski-desantis-trump-00110950][/url]
Politico
[url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/08/17/ron-filipkowski-desantis-trump-00110950][/url]
Politico
Does that sound like someone interested in making sure that the Democrats are not elected no matter what, or like someone who only cares about 1 thing... Trump.Quote:
Online, Filipkowski, a former Republican now devoted to trolling the GOP, is a different person altogether. He is a social media obsessive or savant, or both sharing an endless stream of photos, videos, political dirt and, at times, biting political commentary with the roughly 750,000 followers he has on X, sometimes blowing up a politician's comment or gaffe with attention. "The thing that I think is so unique about Ron's work is that he surfaces a lot of clips and photos that aren't things you can find by just watching cable news or YouTube streams," said Aaron Rupar (follower count: 884.7k), a liberal-leaning journalist known for quickly clipping political videos that go viral on X. "He's great at dredging things up from deeper social media sources that take a lot of work to find."
During the 2022 midterm election, he shared a video of Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz talking about preparing a crudit platter that went viral and underscored voter concerns that the wealthy TV physician was out of touch. During the same cycle, he picked up on then-Senate candidate J.D. Vance telling Steve Bannon's War Room podcast he didn't "care what happens to Ukraine one way or another," a moment that previewed the shift in how Republicans view foreign conflicts. Days later, Vance's campaign issued a statement clarifying his comments. And earlier this year, when 2024 GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at a reporter during a trip to Jerusalem over a question about his time serving at Guantanamo Bay as a Navy lawyer, Filipkowski posted a clipped video of the moment that now has over 3.8 million views.
His tweets have sparked cable news segments and online battles with political operatives. Journalists have alerts turned on to catch the latest photo or obscure right-wing event he has uncovered. Even the campaigns he covers and political figures he loathes have warmed to him and even teamed up with him. Filipkowski said he is in contact with far-right activist Laura Loomer and people affiliated with Donald Trump's campaign. It's not to boost Trump (whom he has been agitating against since the 2020 campaign) but to upend their mutual enemy: DeSantis.
"I'm probably the top anti-DeSantis person on Twitter. So if [rivals] have something anti-DeSantis that they want to get into the mainstream, they'll send it to me," Filipkowski said, without disclosing the name of anyone on the Trump campaign he's worked with. The Trump campaign declined to comment.
Loomer said they speak occasionally. "He knows I'm a Trump loyalist, and I know he doesn't like Trump, and despite our differences, we have found common ground on making sure Ron DeSantis is never elected president of the United States, ever."