Ryan Mac and Matt Drange of Forbes have a piece up which, if true, has to be the weirdest story yet in 2017 — and there’s a lot of competition for that, too.
Charles “Chuck” Johnson, a controversial blogger and conservative online personality, has been pushing for various political appointees to serve under Donald Trump, according to multiple sources close to the President-elect’s transition team. While Johnson does not have a formal position, FORBES has learned that he is working behind the scenes with members of the transition team’s executive committee, including billionaire Trump donor Peter Thiel, to recommend, vet and give something of a seal of approval to potential nominees from the so-called “alt-right.”
The idea that Johnson would be involved in choosing nominations is … well, strange enough that it’s hard to believe the story. Yes, we are talking about a nascent presidential administration that is known for discarding all accepted norms, but….
Even so, Mac and Drange claim multiple anonymous sources for the news item. It’s the sort of thing you wouldn’t expect anyone in Trumptopia to admit, unless their goal is either to play a practical joke on a reporter or to force someone’s hand in getting rid of Johnson.
Johnson is best known for a combative form of activist trolling-slash-journalism that is not necessarily scrupulous about facts and doesn’t hesitate to make insinuations — for example, that President Obama is gay. His news site, Got News, at times offers cash in exchange for information. He attempted to reveal a photograph of the woman who had started the University of Virginia rape hoax, but it turned out he had obtained and revealed a picture of the wrong person.
Johnson was eventually banned from Twitter for tweeting out what was perceived as a threat against the organizers of Black Lives Matter.
If Johnson is actually involved in the Trump administration, let’s just say it would not inspire confidence. Or to put it another way: yikes.
