How to avoid retweeting neo-Nazis: A guide for certain presidential candidates

By Fusion Staff | February 11, 2016 | 5:47pm

Latest

On Wednesday, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump retweeted an enthusiastic endorsement from a supporter. The supporter, whose Twitter handle is “WhiteGenocideTM,” turns out to be a white supremacist, an anti-Semite, an Islamophobe, and a neo-Nazi.

This is at least the third time this has happened. In the words of Trump: Not good!

Most Popular

Everyone, even the generally stubborn Trump campaign, agrees it would be better if Donald Trump did not retweet the messages of Hitler-worshipping racists. But how can he pull it off? I’ve put together a few Twitter Tips that might help.

(You might be wondering: Why am I qualified to offer this advice? Well, not to brag, but in my seven years on Twitter, I have not retweeted a single neo-Nazi.)

1. Look at the username!

Does the person you are retweeting have the phrase “White Genocide” in his Twitter handle? Chances are that, if the answer is yes, this person is a nationalist racist person that you do not want to associate with.

2. How much Hitler are you seeing?

I know it’s tempting to blindly retweet praise. But before you do, click on the user’s profile. Are there photos of Hitler, like, everywhere? Does the Twitter profile look like a shrine to Der Führer? Does it resemble the cover of Tiger Beat magazine, except with Hitler instead of Harry Styles?

If the answer is yes, this is probably not a person you want to retweet.

3. Look for other hidden clues!

Maybe Hitler isn’t prominently featured on the person’s profile. But scan their timeline: How many Israeli flags crudely Photoshopped onto image macros do you see? Do they use the hashtag #DontMixRaces? Look at the tweet directly preceding the one that praises you: Do you see the N-word?

All questions to consider before sharing the opinion of a supporter!

4. Ctrl + F is your friend!

If you’re on a computer, it could help to search the page for certain keywords. Hit Ctrl +F (Command + F, if you’re on a Mac), and type in the following words and phrases: “White Power”; “Mooslem”; “Why isn’t there a White History Month?”; “rapefugees“; “David Duke”; “cuckservative”; “Hitler is good”.

Did you get any matches? Did you get A LOT of matches? You might want to retweet someone else!

5. Don’t forget the bio!

A Twitter user’s self-written biography can also provide clues that the person is a neo-Nazi. For example: It might contain the phrase “I am a neo-Nazi.” This is generally a hint that the person is a neo-Nazi.

And that’s it! Follow these rules, and you’ll be well on your way to not accidentally retweeting a reprehensible bigot who has latched onto the ideas of your campaign. That, plus a few hundred electoral votes, could be enough to win this thing.