On this episode of Worst Year Ever, hosts Robert, Cody, and Katy examine the “Reopen America” coronavirus protests that spouted up most notably in Lansing, Michigan in April and have been gaining traction in other states ever since. The convoluted details about the initial protest, the ones that have come after, and all the websites and Facebook groups dedicated to organizing them have made plenty of people on the Internet wonder if it’s truly a grassroots movement, comprised of angry Americans, or if it’s a fake, “astroturfed” movement created to push a political agenda. They go through the primary players, and compare and contrast it to the Tea Party movement during the Obama administration.
While the protests have gotten a lot of coverage, Robert points out that polls show that as much as 81% of Americans think that social distancing and quarantining are necessary measures we should be taking “despite the risk to the economy.” This has led to some people believing that the movement isn’t real: Either it’s being blown out of proportion by the media, or it’s been funded for political reasons, and either way, these protesters can be dismissed. And there’s some evidence that that is actually true; Christian and Ben Dorr, two known scam artists who start conservative movements in order to solicit donations and build a mailing list they can monetize, are behind most of the Facebook groups where these protests are being organized. The protest in Washington was organized by people with ties to militia movements, and Michigan’s was funded by someone with ties to Betsy Devos, leading to speculation that the White House was involved.
“To complicate things even further,” he says he was directed to a Reddit post that has gone viral claiming that one person bought up several domain names for websites like “ReopenPA.com” and “ReopenMN.com” as well as “LiberateVA.com” and “LiberateCA.com.” Liberals and left-wing supporters flooded message boards with anger this obvious astroturfing. But recently, it was discovered that “an old hippie” had spent $4,000 to purchase these domains to actually prevent the Dorr Brothers or others like them from getting them. All in all, it’s a tangled web, and either way, Robert thinks we shouldn’t be so quick to write it off; ISIS started with a lot less, he cautions. Listen to the episode for a deep dive into the coronavirus protests, how it compares with the Tea Party, and much more on Worst Year Ever.
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