The #TwitterFiles or the Case of the Missing Hunter Biden Dick Pics
The #TwitterFiles or the Case of the Missing Hunter Biden Dick Pics
The far right and right-wing media were certain that Elon Musk and Matt Taibbi had the goods on Twitter and Hunter Biden.
Elon Musk teased that he would reveal “what really happened with the Hunter Biden story suppression by Twitter,” and promised to publish the revelations by 5:00pm EST on Friday evening. After a nearly two hour delay, during which Musk claimed he was “double-checking some facts,” the alleged facts were revealed in a Twitter thread written by Matt Taibbi.
By the time Taibbi had finished his 30+ Tweet thread, the far right and right wing media was sure they had damning evidence on Twitter, on the media, and on President Joe Biden. There would be billions of dollars in fines and restitution paid to suspended accounts, there would be arrests and prosecutions and imprisonment for those responsible, and President Biden would be forced to resign or be impeached and removed from office!
Interestingly, the far right’s narrative quickly evolved, almost in real-time, and the far right adopted the position that the Twitter Files were actually proof of “election interference” by Twitter, and the media, and the Biden campaign.
Howie Carr, a right-wing talk radio host, claimed that there was now “conclusively proved that corporate management conspired with Democrats to suppress the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop, which revealed the breathtaking corruption of the entire Biden crime family.”
Twitter Files and the Right-Wing Media Narrative
The right-wing media have focused almost exclusively on elements of the Twitter files that reinforce current far right narratives. Although, Miranda Devine told Tucker Carlson on Fox News on Friday that “it's not really the smoking gun we'd hoped for,” and that perhaps Musk “has held back some materials.” The far right and right-wing media have either minimized, dismissed, or completely ignored various elements of the Twitter Files.
As
notes, "right-wing outlets have spent the days since Taibbi’s thread screaming about this being some gigantic scandal and berating mainstream outlets for not just running with the Musk-Taibbi narrative. This is not new. In fact, this is exactly what the right did when reputable news outlets tried to fact-check the 'laptop' story before publishing their own pieces about it."
The Case of the Missing Dick Pics
The far right and right-wing media focused on a screenshot of an internal email that listed several Tweets that the Biden Campaign requested Twitter “review,” and which were “handled.” This was the smoking gun, that proved suppression of articles about the Biden laptop. Except, archives of the Tweets revealed it was actually suppression of Hunter Biden’s dick pics (explicit videos and images).
Twitter Files Ignite Far Right Conspiracy Theories
Among the adherents to QAnon, the Twitter Files obviously validated the conspiracy theory’s narratives: “The Twitter Files confirm Q’s entire main narrative,” wrote a prominent conspiracy theories in a Telegram channel with more than 118,000 subscribers:
Also, Pizza! The fact that “pizza” was part of Jack Dorsey’s email address did not go unnoticed by adherents of QAnon.
As
"the laptop is the central character in an ever-growing web of conservative conspiracy and attack, and has become sort of a shorthand for every sinister idea about President Biden’s time in office. Republicans constantly invoke the laptop and they have made it crystal clear that the laptop and issues somehow connected to the laptop will be their main concern over the next few years, in lieu of producing any serious policy agenda with issues like inflation, gas prices, immigration or any of the things they have cared to pretend about — even abortion."
The Twitter Files even convinced the former President that there was justification for the “termination” of the U.S. Constitution:
Musk has promised that there will be an “Episode 2 of The Twitter Files,” but later clarified that “we will need another day or so.” It remains unclear what may be yet to be “revealed,” but it seems clear that regardless of the actual substance of the Twitter Files―the narrative of the far right and right-wing media will remain unchanged.
