A supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump rallies outside an early polling precinct as voters cast their ballots in local, state, and national elections, in Clearwater, Florida, U.S., November 3, 2024. REUTERS/Octavio Jones
Astroturfing is a term for faking grassroots support. That appears to be happening among MAGA members, with President Donald Trump's own staff running not only their own personal and professional accounts, but influencer accounts as well.
"Johnny MAGA," a popular right-wing account that pushed out the video showing President Barack and Michelle Obama as apes, is run by White House rapid response manager Garrett Wade, WIRED found in a Wednesday report.
Reporters confirmed it when they discovered that "Johnny MAGA" was linked to a phone number associated with Wade. It was then confirmed by a source close to the White House.
The account was first created in Sept. 2021 and referenced Wade's birth year in an old account handle. It has been consistently pro-Trump but was also talking a lot about NFTs. The account has never disclosed that it has such a close relationship to the White House.
"Multiple media outlets, including Mother Jones, TownHall, and the New York Post, have all linked out to posts on the Johnny MAGA account seemingly as organic reflections of public sentiment on political issues," the report said.
WIRED spoke to a University of Pittsburgh media ethics professor who took issue with the arrangement.
“People have a right to know who is trying to manipulate public opinion, and they have a right to know whether or not they’re experiencing astroturf politics,” Samuel Woolley told WIRED. “This lack of transparency and the conflict of interest surrounding this account and the lack of disclosure all amount to a breach of public trust.”
The report traced Wade's public campaign donations to the Philadelphia suburbs, where he went to high school. He listed his profession as "tech school" and later that year said he worked for "Opinion Architects," which does digital consulting out of Bucks County, where Wade had previously lived. The phone number linked to "Johnny MAGA" also geolocates to the same areas.
Wade isn't the only astroturfer. The Defense Department has two social media staffers who continue to run a @snowflake.tears account and host a “Dear America" podcast. Amjed Yacu, who operates the former, discloses it on the 330,000-follower account.
Government workers are barred from any overtly political activity under the Hatch Act, but the law has no mandated consequences, much less mandated investigations. Watchdog groups and lawmakers, however, stepped in with their own legal filings last year, alleging possible violations of the law.