In any normal age, like say, three years ago, the revelation that the president was sharing content from bigots would be incredibly damaging. It would be akin to President Obama, accidently or not, favorably quoting an online promoter of Hamas. But things are far from normal, and the president sharing content from guys in armbands has become de rigeur.
In this new age, power is shifting away from the established media towards social media personalities and trolls. Ironically, some of the same people reveling in the revolution that has made social media as powerful as the “news” are the ones claiming HAS is just a private citizen who should be left alone to insult Jews and Muslims in peace. Sorry, when the president shares your meme with 30 million followers, you become the story.
Importantly, revealing HAS’s identity would also serve as a warning to those who think they can harass and insult people through bigoted posts. HAS would have us believe he is a nice guy who just got swept up in the fun of racism. Maybe that’s true, but it might be even worse than actually holding such beliefs.
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