Mike Cernovich
| Mike Cernovich | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Michael Cernovich Illinois, United States |
| Occupation | Author, writer, lawyer |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater |
University of Illinois Pepperdine University School of Law |
| Notable works |
Gorilla Mindset MAGA Mindset: Making YOU and America Great Again |
| Website | |
|
dangerandplay | |
Mike Cernovich is an alt-right social media personality, American political activist, author, and lawyer known for such books as Gorilla Mindset.[1][2] His maxims include "conflict is attention" and "attention is influence".[3]
Cernovich's website Danger & Play started in 2012 and was originally known mainly for self-improvement content. However, during the 2016 US presidential election campaign, it focused mainly on pro-Donald Trump and anti-Hillary Clinton commentary.[3][4][5][6][7][8] During September 2016, when Cernovich's #HillarysHealth alleged that Clinton had health problems making her unfit to serve as president and that those health problems were being suppressed by the mainstream media, Cernovich's tweets were seen more than 100 million times.[3]
Early life
Cernovich grew up in a conservative Christian family in Kewanee, a farming town Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois and later attended the Pepperdine University School of Law.[9]
Personal life
Cernovich married his first wife as a law student in 2003. Cernovich has stated that his “first marriage was ruined by feminist indoctrination.” His wife became an attorney in Silicon Valley and "earned millions of dollars in stock from an I.P.O."[3] She filed for divorce in 2011, and Cernovich received over one million dollars in the divorce settlement.[3] Cernovich met his second wife shortly there after.[3]
Cernovich states that he was falsely accused of raping a woman in 2003.[10] According to The New Yorker magazine, the charge was later dropped (and his record has since been expunged), but a judge ordered him "to do community service for misdemeanor battery".[3]
Cernovich lives south of Los Angeles.[3]
Writing career
In 2012, he launched the website Danger & Play, a blog focused on politics, men's issues and self-improvement,[9] and how to pick up women. As of 2016 it mainly features pro-Trump commentary.[3] The title comes from a quote of Friedrich Nietzsche, “The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.”[3]
In 2014 Cernovich was a "champion" of GamerGate, the campaign against feminists in the video-game industry, infuriating opponents with tweets such as: "Who cares about breast cancer and rape? Not me."[3]
In 2015, Cernovich published the self-help book Gorilla Mindset: Timeless Strategies to Unleash the Animal Within You. With the appearance of Donald Trump, he recognized "a kindred spirit" and began to make political commentary.[3]
In 2016, Cernovich wrote the foreword to the book Cuckservative: How "Conservatives" Betrayed America written by John Red Eagle and Vox Day.[11]
In 2016, Cernovich published the self-help book MAGA Mindset: Making YOU and America Great Again, inspired by the Donald Trump presidential campaign.[12]
Media and views
Cernovich's "policy preferences" include "borders" and not allowing people with an IQ smaller than 115 "regardless of country" to immigrate, free speech but "no white guilt allowed" and identity politics either for all groups or for none, "guns", no federal funding for universities, student loan bankruptcy protection, "no wars" and no Wall Street bail outs, ending the use of tax havens by American companies, and a ban on "Saudi Arabian money" in US banks and companies.[13]
Describing his political beliefs, Cernovich uses the label “American nationalist.”[3] He dismissed reports calling him a white nationalist several times, pointing out that actual white supremacists have attacked him for being a "race-mixer" (Cernovich's second wife is Persian).[14][15] Responding to reports referring to him as a white nationalist, he wrote that he "disdains" identity politics, including white identity politics, but tries to explain them as a part of his work without condoning or judging them. He also doesn't regard himself as alt-right and claims to be generally opposed to joining ideological movements. He has criticized the movement, but also stated that he shares some "interests" with the alt-right and therefore hopes to see it "have some success".[13]
He has emphasized the importance of simplicity in social media commentary, noting that when he made his posts "too complex", none of it got "through to people".[3] He gives as an example of "more visceral" and successful posts, #HillarysHealth, which commented on the health of Trump opponent Hillary Clinton during the 2016 United States presidential election—alleging among other things that Clinton had "both a seizure disorder and Parkinson's disease".[3] By September this hashtag had got 240,000 page views and had become a national trending topic on Twitter. During the month of September, Cernovich's tweets were seen more than 100,000,000 times.[3] According to Scott Greer, of the Daily Caller, “Cernovich memed #SickHillary into reality. Never doubt the power of memes.”[16]
New Yorker quotes a statement on his website: "To beat a person, you lower his or her social status. Logic is pointless,"[17] in relation to Cernovich's frequent references to adversaries as "cucks" (cuckolds and "cuckservatives").[3]
While Cernovich admits to sometimes being an Internet troll, he states: “I use trolling tactics to build my brand,” and not for his own amusement.[3]
Cernovich opposes the two-party system and his support for Trump is not based on public policy. “What are Trump’s policies? I don’t particularly care.” In another post on his website he stated: “If Trump offends you, it’s because you live in a cucked world where no one speaks their minds.”[3]
In an October 2016 interview with The New Yorker Cernovich said:
The left likes to talk about power structures, right?" he said. "Well, the media still thinks of itself as speaking truth to power. What they don't realize is that someone like me is perceived as the new Fourth Estate. Maybe they should check their structural privilege." The "paternalistic" media, he said, was giving way to a more democratic one. "It makes journalists crazy, because they used to be in control," he said. "They can't control people anymore. Everyone has a voice now.[3]
Following a August 2016 appearance on Fox News Channel's Red Eye, the show's producers felt compelled afterwards to say that they had made a mistake in booking him when later learning of Cernovich's Internet history of ugly online disputes.[10]
A number of Cernovich's public comments have been criticized. According to Salon.com, Cernovich has accused the Democratic Party of attempting to assassinate him.[18] In 2016, Cernovich criticized Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for speaking at a gender-segregated mosque.[1][19] In August 2016, Lloyd Grove, an editor for The Daily Beast, referred to Cernovich as a "date rape apologist" because of Cernovich's comments on Twitter in August 2012 when Cernovich tweeted "Have you guys ever tried 'raping' a girl without using force? Try it. It's basically impossible. Date rape does not exist."[10]
National Security Advisor for the Trump Administration, Michael T. Flynn, has called Mike Cernovich, "a source I trust."[20]
References
- 1 2 della Cava, Marco; Molina, Brett (September 27, 2016). "Facebook millionaire Luckey aligns himself with alt-right, but only if you squint". USA Today.
- ↑ Kutner, Max (October 13, 2016). "Roosh V's journey from pickup artist to right-wing provocateur". Newsweek.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Marantz, Andrew (31 October 2016). "Trolls for Trump". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ↑ Legum, Gary (August 10, 2016). "From fringe to mainstream: Conspiracies, baseless accusations and lunacy is the new normal for Republicans". Salon.
- ↑ Neyfakh, Leon (March 15, 2016). "They Totally Knew: The People Who Foresaw the Rise of Donald Trump". Slate.
- ↑ Rosen, Armin (May 4, 2016). "What Fuels Trump-Supporting Twitter Trolls?". Tablet.
- ↑ Stockton, Dustin (July 29, 2016). "Breitbart News Interviews Mike Cernovich in Middle of Commie Protest". Breitbart News.
- ↑ Ching, Frank (October 4, 2016). "Did Trump leak his own tax returns?". The New Zealand Herald.
- 1 2 Greenfield, Scott (February 24, 2016). "Cross: Mike Cernovich, The 800 lb. Gorilla Lawyer". Mimeis Law.
- 1 2 3 Grove, Lloyd (August 9, 2016). "Why Did Fox News Welcome Date Rape Apologist Mike Cernovich?". The Daily Beast.
- ↑ Cernovich, Mike (December 7, 2015). "Cuckservative: What is a Cuck and Who is a Cuck". Danger & Play.
- ↑ Cernovich, Mike (October 18, 2016). "MAGA Mindset: Making YOU and America Great Again". Danger & Play.
- 1 2 Cernovich, Mike (31 August 2016). "Is Mike Cernovich Part of the Alt-Right?". Danger & Play. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ↑ Cernovich, Mike (29 October 2016). "Media Hoax Alert – The Atlantic and Esquire Caught Lying!". Danger & Play. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ↑ Cernovich, Mike (31 October 2016). "Know Thy Enemy (Myopia)". Danger & Play. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ↑ Greer, Scott (11 September 2016). "Scott Greer @ScottMGreer Sep 11". Retrieved 4 November 2016 – via Twitter.
- ↑ Cernovich, Mike. "How We are Changing the Culture and Destroying SJWs [Social Justice Warriors]". Danger & Play. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ↑ Legum, Gary (August 10, 2016). "From fringe to mainstream: Conspiracies, baseless accusations and lunacy is the new normal for Republicans". Salon.
- ↑ "Mike Cernovich". Twitter. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ↑ Kaczynski, Andrew; McDermott, Nathan (November 18, 2016). "Michael Flynn's son and chief of staff pushed conspiracy theories, obscene memes online". CNN.