Running Alt-Right Thread of Mockery and Hypocrisy

[YGIFS 19452]

So...I mean...he wanted us to see his license plate number right?  Like...his bank will know what he did with his auto loan money tomorrow morning right?  And he's already in pretty bad shape financially?  I mean...is this like one of those cries for help or what am I missing?  

[High Plains Drifter 11052]

 

 

 

[MissingInAction 25181]

11 hours ago, YGIFS said:

So...I mean...he wanted us to see his license plate number right?  Like...his bank will know what he did with his auto loan money tomorrow morning right?  And he's already in pretty bad shape financially?  I mean...is this like one of those cries for help or what am I missing?  

That genius is making millions off the trump cult. 

[Captainant 27762]

10 hours ago, High Plains Drifter said:

 

 

 

lmao he's doing a tinder on his grift targets

[Pancho 44987]

 

[YGIFS 19452]

The only reason the digital age where we can consume insane information that reaffirms our worst selves and exchange ideas with other degenerates (aka the Surly Model), and still somehow not devolve into violence and madness is that most of us were taught critical thinking skills in schools and communities. 

Thankfully, we're doing away with all that so things should improve real soon! 

[HenryJames 66170]

 

[jimmyjazz 46126]

Solid shot.  If UK law is anything like the law here, that dude will get tried and convicted for battery.

[Beau Vine 54422]

That's either a great punch or Billy Steel is British Glass Joe.

[Anwar Namtut 344]

4 hours ago, longhornmatt said:

The real root cause is these people have too much fucking time on their hands.  Idle hands are the devil’s tools and whatnot.  I realize the irony / hypocrisy of what I’m about to say as I stare at a screen and make yet another post here - but for fuck’s sake, people really shouldn’t have enough time to sit around and radicalize themselves about the stupidest, most petty shit all day.  And if they do have that much time and such a leisurely life, then they should want to spend that time in a much more fulfilling way than sitting around raging about shit that has never even affected them.  “The border!  Gays and trans!  My right to gun down would be assassins!  Globalists!  Great Replacement Theory! This country is going to hell!” said the realtor from Frisco who lives the same comfortable boring life as everyone else and whose actual real life day involved absolutely none of those things, except for the hours of “research” about them on YouTube.

Fucking hell.  People need friends and hobbies.

[Post Oak 20262]

Chris Grider of Bruceville Eddy was sentenced to 6+ years in prison.  He was near Babbitt when she got blasted. He and his wife own Kissing Tree Vineyards off of 35.

Fuck him

https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/crime/bruceville-eddy-man-involved-jan-6-riot-sentenced-to-nearly-7-years-in-prison/500-0e3f9bd3-e5d1-46e2-9f47-c7ee075f9bc3

 

[TwiceHorn 31534]

Welp, here it is, the quiet part right out loud.

https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-radio-host-issues-chilling-082549186.html

And a follow up thought that kind of relates to longhornmatt's post.

What in the blue fuck would lead anyone to compare even Trump's America to the Weimar Republic.

[Captainant 27762]

3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

What in the blue fuck would lead anyone to compare even Trump's America to the Weimar Republic.

It's the politically ineffective but rich and fertile breeding ground for a much more terrible and evil brand of fascist? I mean I've been trying to lay out the historical parallels for quite some time, ever since the shock of Jan6

[Blotto 23572]

1 hour ago, Post Oak said:

Chris Grider of Bruceville Eddy was sentenced to 6+ years in prison.  He was near Babbitt when she got blasted. He and his wife own Kissing Tree Vineyards off of 35.

Fuck him

https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/crime/bruceville-eddy-man-involved-jan-6-riot-sentenced-to-nearly-7-years-in-prison/500-0e3f9bd3-e5d1-46e2-9f47-c7ee075f9bc3

 

He can spend that time perfecting Kissing Tree Pruno so he has something to enjoy on his prison dates.

[jimmyjazz 46126]

33 minutes ago, Captainant said:

It's the politically ineffective but rich and fertile breeding ground for a much more terrible and evil brand of fascist? I mean I've been trying to lay out the historical parallels for quite some time, ever since the shock of Jan6

That, and the fact that Tyranny A doesn't have to be a perfect blueprint for Tyranny B.  "Here's a difference, it's not happening!"

[TwiceHorn 31534]

Well, the Weimar Republic sucked in a whole variety of ways.  It was real.

 

Part of the delusion here is that any part of 21st Century America is in any way comparable to the Weimar Republic or interwar Europe.

 

Like longhornmatt says, these fucking people have too much time on their hands because life is so fucking good here.

[safe sex 11747]

4 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

That racist is in the fencing posture, and that's a serious fucking brain injury he just deservedly suffered

[TwiceHorn 31534]

5 minutes ago, safe sex said:

That racist is in the fencing posture, and that's a serious fucking brain injury he just deservedly suffered

I was thinking he likely hit his head on that red thing, whatever it is.

However, he is apparently fine, didn't press charges and sought alcohol treatment. Three years ago. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/revealed-what-happened-to-tube-racist-knocked-out-with-a-single-punch/XP7DQ57RDWKAR32JLOIRGGMA6Q/

Edited May 25, 2023 by TwiceHorn

[HenryJames 66170]

3 hours ago, Post Oak said:

Chris Grider of Bruceville Eddy was sentenced to 6+ years in prison.  He was near Babbitt when she got blasted. He and his wife own Kissing Tree Vineyards off of 35.

Fuck him

https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/crime/bruceville-eddy-man-involved-jan-6-riot-sentenced-to-nearly-7-years-in-prison/500-0e3f9bd3-e5d1-46e2-9f47-c7ee075f9bc3

 

 

[Beau Vine 54422]

3 hours ago, Anwar Namtut said:

I should get that for my office.

[Pancho 44987]

1 hour ago, TwiceHorn said:

Welp, here it is, the quiet part right out loud.

https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-radio-host-issues-chilling-082549186.html

And a follow up thought that kind of relates to longhornmatt's post.

What in the blue fuck would lead anyone to compare even Trump's America to the Weimar Republic.

 

I said on here a year or so ago that it really feels like the radical right is slowly setting up something similar to how Gilead started in Handmaids. I was sort of joking but sort of wasn’t. 

It just feels for the last 2-3 years, they have are plotting something weird on their podcasts, websites, social media, churches, etc.

I dont’ know what’s more upsetting—the fact that media isn’t calling this shit out and just letting it slide or the fact that some posters on this very website believe there’s no possible way something like that would happen because it sounds so far fetched? It doesn’t sound so far fetched to me when tons of people are being indoctrinated by the radical right everyday. 

Wasn’t there an article by a mom who said White boys are being indoctrinated daily because of stuff like YouTube, etc? That’s why I wish more people would push back, especially on your buddies who you go have a drink with who say crazy shit instead of just letting him talk and blowing it off. 

[Willfully Horn 8049]

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Welp, here it is, the quiet part right out loud.

https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-radio-host-issues-chilling-082549186.html

And a follow up thought that kind of relates to longhornmatt's post.

What in the blue fuck would lead anyone to compare even Trump's America to the Weimar Republic.

Got you. Jen and Jess are idjits. But, the dictator thing has been in the works for years. 

[SydneyCarton 48169]

12 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Welp, here it is, the quiet part right out loud.

https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-radio-host-issues-chilling-082549186.html

And a follow up thought that kind of relates to longhornmatt's post.

What in the blue fuck would lead anyone to compare even Trump's America to the Weimar Republic.

It's aspirational. That's why. 

[Brisketexan 105321]

14 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Welp, here it is, the quiet part right out loud.

https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-radio-host-issues-chilling-082549186.html

And a follow up thought that kind of relates to longhornmatt's post.

What in the blue fuck would lead anyone to compare even Trump's America to the Weimar Republic.

"Weimar solutions."

This is what they have in mind as a "Weimar solution:"

What these abject psychopath morons fail to consider is the NEXT step in the progression.  See, their "Weimar solution" turned into a "Nazi problem."

And the "Nazi problem" faced its OWN solution:

 

Fuck around.

Find out.

My grandfather killed the shit outta nazis.  If these guys want me to make it a fine family tradition, I sure as fuck will.

Bring it, you fascist shitheels.  

Edited May 25, 2023 by Brisketexan

[Pescado_Rojo 19428]

12 hours ago, HenryJames said:

 

Serious Youth Pastor vibes. 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33899]

I bet he annoyingly flicks his hair with his head a lot. 

Edited May 25, 2023 by Longhorn_Fan68

[atomheartbevo 89789]

20 hours ago, Pancho said:

I said on here a year or so ago that it really feels like the radical right is slowly setting up something similar to how Gilead started in Handmaids. I was sort of joking but sort of wasn’t. 

It just feels for the last 2-3 years, they have are plotting something weird on their podcasts, websites, social media, churches, etc.

I dont’ know what’s more upsetting—the fact that media isn’t calling this shit out and just letting it slide or the fact that some posters on this very website believe there’s no possible way something like that would happen because it sounds so far fetched? It doesn’t sound so far fetched to me when tons of people are being indoctrinated by the radical right everyday. 

Wasn’t there an article by a mom who said White boys are being indoctrinated daily because of stuff like YouTube, etc? That’s why I wish more people would push back, especially on your buddies who you go have a drink with who say crazy shit instead of just letting him talk and blowing it off. 

Part of the problem is that there is a sizable chunk of the "leadership" if you can call it that, that is clearly in it for the grifting, and that line between the upper "leadership" grifters and the True Believers is extremely blurred, because both are still manipulating the same idiot/disaffected masses, it's just one group is focused on money and the other on power.

The group out for money doesn't mind being a minority within the GOP, and in fact it's easier for them to fundraise when they are out of power and tapping into that down and out group. The ones out for power won't stop and won't settle for being a minority out of power within the GOP - they want to take the wheel and steer the bus over the cliff.

[Bojack 2082]

On 5/24/2023 at 8:18 PM, TwiceHorn said:

Welp, here it is, the quiet part right out loud.

https://news.yahoo.com/conservative-radio-host-issues-chilling-082549186.html

And a follow up thought that kind of relates to longhornmatt's post.

What in the blue fuck would lead anyone to compare even Trump's America to the Weimar Republic.

 

Not the first time Jesse Kelly has publicly called for fascism. Here he is from 2 years ago. Tucker wholeheartedly agreed.

 

[jimmyjazz 46126]

Yes, it's "their" fault that "we" are going to embrace fascism.  The party of small government and personal responsibility, folks.

[Foosters 17885]

17 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Yes, it's "their" fault that "we" are going to embrace fascism.  The party of small government and personal responsibility, folks.

The TTom theory of accountability.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33899]

8 hours ago, Foosters said:

The TTom theory of accountability.

YOU made me a fascist by not letting me be a casual fascist, so now I'm really super fascist. It's all YOUR fault

Edited May 26, 2023 by Longhorn_Fan68

[Francisco 2.0 32427]

Yet another example of the truly stupid walking amongst us.  Any other time, I'd feel sympathy for these folks who were scammed.   But I'm fresh out of fucks to give.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-bucks-promise-wealth-maga-loyalty-lose-thousands-rcna84965

 

Quote

In the recesses of the internet where some of Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters stoke conspiracies and plot his return to the White House, suspected con artists have been mining their disappointment over the last presidential election for gold.

They’ve been peddling “Trump Bucks,” which are emblazoned with photos of the former president, and advertising them online as a kind of golden ticket that will help propel Trump’s 2024 bid and make the “real patriots” who support him rich when cashed in.

 

Quote

John Amann told NBC News he bought $2,200 worth of Trump Bucks and other items over the past year only to discover they were worthless when he tried to cash them in at his local bank.  So he’s gone on Twitter to warn other Trump supporters not to fall for this scam.

NBC News has identified the Colorado-based companies behind the Trump Bucks as Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots and reviewed dozens of social posts, online complaints and hundreds of misleading ads for the products. Additionally, NBC News has found at least a dozen people like Amann who say they invested thousands of dollars after watching the pitches on Telegram and other websites that strongly suggested that Trump himself was endorsing these products.

 

Quote

“Now I’m questioning whether he is aware of this,” Amann said of Trump.

Repeated attempts to reach a spokesperson for Trump and his re-election campaign by email have gone unanswered. No evidence suggests the alleged scammers are connected to Trump or his re-election campaign.

In addition to tweeting a warning to others about the scam, Amann said he posted a review on TrustPilot, a website where consumers can rate and review businesses.

 

Spoiler

The Federal Trade Commission, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from NBC News, confirmed it has received one fraud complaint against Patriots Dynasty that was filed in January.  But it provided no further details about the single complaint or who filed it.

The Better Business Bureau has given the companies, which operate out of an industrial center in the Denver suburb of Aurora, an F rating, and the 33 complaints on the BBB site are unsparing in their criticism of the company.

Repeated attempts to reach representatives for the companies by phone and email were unsuccessful. But Bank of America spokesman Bill Halldin said he’s heard reports from bank employees of customers coming in to exchange their Trump Bucks for actual cash, but the bank routinely turns them down.

“It’s hard to put a number on how many people have come in,” Halldin said when asked for more specifics about who these people are and where they are located.

BOA, as a matter of course, is continually on the lookout for fraudsters and circulates information in-house about possible scams, Halldin said.

That’s little comfort to Amann, who is 77 and lives in Houston. “There’s no way to cash out what I have,” he said.

What it is

Since 2020, when Joe Biden defeated Trump in the presidential election, internet hucksters have been selling pro-Trump products like coins, checks and cards and marketing them as novelty items.

The fine print on the websites offering these items usually notes that they are memorabilia.

But on social media and in promotional videos — many featuring faked celebrity endorsements — the sellers have tapped an audience that believes Trump’s ouster was part of a great conspiracy and that by investing in the Trump Rebate Banking System, or TRB for short, Trump will reward their loyalty by making them rich. 

Those who buy these items, the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots suggest, will be rewarded when Trump unveils a new monetary system that will turn these products into legal tender worth far more than the purchase price.

 A booklet, check and collection of coins bought by an Alabama grandmother when she invested $1500 in “Trump Bucks.”

 

nvest in a TRB membership card “issued by Donald Trump,” the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots claim, and the purchaser who spent, say, $99.99 on a “$10,000 Diamond Trump Bucks” bill will be able to cash it in for $10,000 at major banks and retailers like Walmart, Costco and Home Depot.

“TRB system membership cards are official cards issued by Donald Trump to allow Trump Bucks holders to use Trump Bucks as legal tender and deposit them in banks such as JP Morgan Chase, the Bank of America and Wells Fargo,” a narrator identified only as “John” that appears to be a computer-generated voice says in one YouTube ad just moments after cautioning viewers that “Trump Bucks are not legal tender.”

“Wells Fargo has no affiliation with this product, and cannot accept it for deposit,” a bank spokesperson said.

JP Morgan Chase did not immediately respond to an email from NBC News seeking additional comment.

It’s a get-rich-quick scam that is catnip to a certain kind of Trump supporter — including QAnon believers and others who believe the former president is the only solution to America’s problems.

NBC also reached out to representatives for Walmart, Costco and Home Depot by email to see if they’ve had customers come in to try to cash in their Trump Bucks. 

“We don’t have any connection to this, and it isn’t a problem we’re seeing at our stores,” Home Depot spokesman Terrance Roper said in an email to NBC News. 

Walmart spokesman Robert Arrieta said “we have not heard of this scam.”

An Alabama grandmother holds one of the coins she purchased online in her apartment in Mobile, Ala., on May 19.

 

“We don’t have any program that resembles this,” Arrieta said and referred a reporter to the company’s fraud alert page.

Michael J. Clark, a former FBI agent who teaches criminal justice at the University of New Haven, said it’s likely many of the victims have not yet figured out they’ve been conned.

“If this is indeed a scam, the victims have not had enough time to realize they have been scammed as they will be awaiting the result of the 2024 presidential elections to receive the benefit of their initial outlay of money,” Clark said via email.

How it spreads

Fawning reviews are posted on dozens of websites with the headlines “SCAM OR LEGIT” that can stack Google with positive results and in hundreds of YouTube videos.

In AI-generated promotional videos shared on social media and in chat groups, celebrities and politicians, including Trump, appear to endorse the scam.

In one, Trump appears to announce the launch of the TRB system on Fox News.

“Let’s make America wealthy again,” the artificially generated voice of Trump says.

In another, Twitter-owner Elon Musk appears to say “That Trump certificate is not a joke, it’s real. Everyone needs to get as many as they can. I spend one million dollars on Trump certificates and this week I’m going to cash out my Trump items. Soon I will be the richest person on the planet again.”

In reality, the advertisement features footage lifted from Musk’s appearance at a TED event in 2022. The video ends with a slide advertising a free app that promises to “make your favorite celebrity say anything.

It’s so pervasive that even pro-Trump websites and Trump supporters have been sounding the alarm.

Blogger Noah Christopher, who is the moderator of the “WeLoveTrump” Telegram group with 26,000 subscribers, has urged his followers more than 30 times this year alone to “not get conned.” 

“The faked videos have been posted relentlessly by fake social media accounts on Facebook, TikTok, and in Telegram groups catering to devoted Trump supporters,” Noah wrote last month. “Unreal how pervasive and aggressive this scam is.”

Christopher did not respond to an email from NBC News seeking additional comment.

One 75-year-old Alabama grandmother, who consented to having her picture taken but asked not to be identified by name for fear of internet harassment, told NBC News the message she got from watching the pitches on the internet was that Trump was going to make her rich.

But the grandmother, who describes herself as a “real patriot,” said what she got for the $1,500 she invested in Trump Bucks turned out to be fool’s gold.

An Alabama grandmother said a Bank of America teller told her that she'd seen dozens of people coming in to cash these products.

 

“I saw all these ads on Telegram that had Trump pushing coins and checks that he endorsed and how you can cash them in after a year and make a profit,” the grandmother, who lives in Mobile, told NBC News. “I was told how you can go to Bank of America or Target or Amazon to cash them in.”

About six months ago, the grandmother said, she gathered up the Trump Bucks and commemorative coins she had purchased and drove 60 miles east to the nearest Bank of America branch she could find in Pensacola, Florida.

There, she said, she was greeted by a teller who told her she’d been scammed.

“When we get there the lady tells me she’s seen dozens of people coming in to cash these checks and they have nothing to do with this,” the grandmother said.

A Florida woman who lives north of Tampa, and who also asked not to be identified by name because she fears internet harassment, said her 77-year-old mother-in-law was also fooled into investing tens of thousands of dollars in Trump Bucks.

“My mother-in-law has always been conservative and prone to believe in conspiracy theories,” she said. “But after Trump lost the election, she went down the internet rabbit hole with this.”

This isn’t the first time her mother-in-law has fallen prey to a Trump-inspired scam. 

“Several years back, she got into Nesara, which says that a radical reset of the U.S. economy is coming and all debts are going to be wiped out,” the Florida woman said. “She thinks she’s getting all the money back and that she’ll make a huge profit too.”

First, the Florida woman said, her mother-in-law “started buying all this support Trump memorabilia from a website that clearly states it's memorabilia.

Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots claim purchasers will be able to cash coins and checks like these in at major banks and retailers like Walmart, Costco and Home Depot

 

“From there, she went to other sites which has all sorts of people claiming that if you buy these Trump coins or these Trump checks for, say, a hundred dollars, you’ll be able to take them to a bank and cash them in for thousands of dollars.”

To prove to her mother-in-law that she had been swindled, the Florida woman said she drove her to a nearby bank and urged her to try to redeem the Trump Bucks in her possession.

“We thought she got it, she even admitted she got scammed,” the Florida woman said. “But then giant boxes arrived at the house full of Trump checks and other stuff that she bought for $500 and that would supposedly be worth $6 million one day. We tell her she’s getting scammed and she says, ‘Just wait, Trump will make all the patriots rich.’”

“It’s like she’s in a cult,” the Florida woman said.

Who profits?

Good question. It’s not clear who concocted the TRB system scheme or created the fake promotional videos.

A 2022 New York Times investigation reported a Romanian marketing company to be at the origin of so-called Trump coins — which had been wildly popular in 2022 and were also fraudulently marketed as a kind of alternative currency.

Most of the posts and videos for the TRB system currently link to websites registered with the company names Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots, whose listed address can be traced to Shipoffers.com, a shipping center in Aurora, Colorado.

Shipoffers warehouse manager Josh Pier said the center ships Trump-related products but said it doesn't manufacture them. He declined to discuss what those products are and would not confirm the names of the companies it ships for. The company handles shipping for a variety of companies, he said.

Pier was echoed by Tony Grebmeier, one of the Shipoffers owners, who said he was unaware of any problems with any of the products the company ships and said if he was aware of any issues he’d take care of them.

Responding to overwhelmingly negative Google reviews, Shipoffers tells unhappy buyers that it doesn't actually make the products or bill customers.

The TRB products are purchased through online retailers ClickBank and Digistore24, which are affiliate marketing networks based in Idaho and Florida that connect would-be promoters with products to sell and earn commissions.

The unique links posted across social media and in the captions of YouTube videos contain the usernames of these affiliate marketers, who get a cut from each sale generated by the fraudulent ads.

A list of URLS for just one website, shows hundreds of affiliate marketers associated with a TRB membership booklet, a product falsely marketed as necessary to redeem the TRB products for real money.

NBC News has also reached out to ClickBank, Digistore24 and ShipOffers for comment. When an NBC News reporter called the Patriots Dynasty phone number, she got a busy signal. There was also no response to an email sent to the address associated with Patriots Dynasty.

The Alabama grandmother says she was initially fooled by the AI version of Trump she saw in the ads. She trusted Trump’s supposed business acumen and thought this was a good investment to have something to leave behind for her children.

“Now I realize, well, that was stupid,” she said. “But I bought them because I believed President Trump, because he knows all about finance, and he was going to help the real Trump Patriots get rich.”

 

[Beau Vine 54422]

12 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

the sellers have tapped an audience that believes Trump’s ouster was part of a great conspiracy and that by investing in the Trump Rebate Banking System, or TRB for short, Trump will reward their loyalty by making them rich. 

Those who buy these items, the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots suggest, will be rewarded when Trump unveils a new monetary system that will turn these products into legal tender worth far more than the purchase price.

[Brisketexan 105321]

I love it. MOAR. Take all their money. Every last penny. It’s what they all deserve.

I only wish I’d gotten in on the grift at the beginning.

[atomheartbevo 89789]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

I only wish I’d gotten in on the grift at the beginning.

[Scheiss Meister 8411]

6 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

Yet another example of the truly stupid walking amongst us.  Any other time, I'd feel sympathy for these folks who were scammed.   But I'm fresh out of fucks to give.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-bucks-promise-wealth-maga-loyalty-lose-thousands-rcna84965

 

 

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

The Federal Trade Commission, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from NBC News, confirmed it has received one fraud complaint against Patriots Dynasty that was filed in January.  But it provided no further details about the single complaint or who filed it.

The Better Business Bureau has given the companies, which operate out of an industrial center in the Denver suburb of Aurora, an F rating, and the 33 complaints on the BBB site are unsparing in their criticism of the company.

Repeated attempts to reach representatives for the companies by phone and email were unsuccessful. But Bank of America spokesman Bill Halldin said he’s heard reports from bank employees of customers coming in to exchange their Trump Bucks for actual cash, but the bank routinely turns them down.

“It’s hard to put a number on how many people have come in,” Halldin said when asked for more specifics about who these people are and where they are located.

BOA, as a matter of course, is continually on the lookout for fraudsters and circulates information in-house about possible scams, Halldin said.

That’s little comfort to Amann, who is 77 and lives in Houston. “There’s no way to cash out what I have,” he said.

What it is

Since 2020, when Joe Biden defeated Trump in the presidential election, internet hucksters have been selling pro-Trump products like coins, checks and cards and marketing them as novelty items.

The fine print on the websites offering these items usually notes that they are memorabilia.

But on social media and in promotional videos — many featuring faked celebrity endorsements — the sellers have tapped an audience that believes Trump’s ouster was part of a great conspiracy and that by investing in the Trump Rebate Banking System, or TRB for short, Trump will reward their loyalty by making them rich. 

Those who buy these items, the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots suggest, will be rewarded when Trump unveils a new monetary system that will turn these products into legal tender worth far more than the purchase price.

 A booklet, check and collection of coins bought by an Alabama grandmother when she invested $1500 in “Trump Bucks.”

 

nvest in a TRB membership card “issued by Donald Trump,” the ads from Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots claim, and the purchaser who spent, say, $99.99 on a “$10,000 Diamond Trump Bucks” bill will be able to cash it in for $10,000 at major banks and retailers like Walmart, Costco and Home Depot.

“TRB system membership cards are official cards issued by Donald Trump to allow Trump Bucks holders to use Trump Bucks as legal tender and deposit them in banks such as JP Morgan Chase, the Bank of America and Wells Fargo,” a narrator identified only as “John” that appears to be a computer-generated voice says in one YouTube ad just moments after cautioning viewers that “Trump Bucks are not legal tender.”

“Wells Fargo has no affiliation with this product, and cannot accept it for deposit,” a bank spokesperson said.

JP Morgan Chase did not immediately respond to an email from NBC News seeking additional comment.

It’s a get-rich-quick scam that is catnip to a certain kind of Trump supporter — including QAnon believers and others who believe the former president is the only solution to America’s problems.

NBC also reached out to representatives for Walmart, Costco and Home Depot by email to see if they’ve had customers come in to try to cash in their Trump Bucks. 

“We don’t have any connection to this, and it isn’t a problem we’re seeing at our stores,” Home Depot spokesman Terrance Roper said in an email to NBC News. 

Walmart spokesman Robert Arrieta said “we have not heard of this scam.”

An Alabama grandmother holds one of the coins she purchased online in her apartment in Mobile, Ala., on May 19.

 

“We don’t have any program that resembles this,” Arrieta said and referred a reporter to the company’s fraud alert page.

Michael J. Clark, a former FBI agent who teaches criminal justice at the University of New Haven, said it’s likely many of the victims have not yet figured out they’ve been conned.

“If this is indeed a scam, the victims have not had enough time to realize they have been scammed as they will be awaiting the result of the 2024 presidential elections to receive the benefit of their initial outlay of money,” Clark said via email.

How it spreads

Fawning reviews are posted on dozens of websites with the headlines “SCAM OR LEGIT” that can stack Google with positive results and in hundreds of YouTube videos.

In AI-generated promotional videos shared on social media and in chat groups, celebrities and politicians, including Trump, appear to endorse the scam.

In one, Trump appears to announce the launch of the TRB system on Fox News.

“Let’s make America wealthy again,” the artificially generated voice of Trump says.

In another, Twitter-owner Elon Musk appears to say “That Trump certificate is not a joke, it’s real. Everyone needs to get as many as they can. I spend one million dollars on Trump certificates and this week I’m going to cash out my Trump items. Soon I will be the richest person on the planet again.”

In reality, the advertisement features footage lifted from Musk’s appearance at a TED event in 2022. The video ends with a slide advertising a free app that promises to “make your favorite celebrity say anything.

It’s so pervasive that even pro-Trump websites and Trump supporters have been sounding the alarm.

Blogger Noah Christopher, who is the moderator of the “WeLoveTrump” Telegram group with 26,000 subscribers, has urged his followers more than 30 times this year alone to “not get conned.” 

“The faked videos have been posted relentlessly by fake social media accounts on Facebook, TikTok, and in Telegram groups catering to devoted Trump supporters,” Noah wrote last month. “Unreal how pervasive and aggressive this scam is.”

Christopher did not respond to an email from NBC News seeking additional comment.

One 75-year-old Alabama grandmother, who consented to having her picture taken but asked not to be identified by name for fear of internet harassment, told NBC News the message she got from watching the pitches on the internet was that Trump was going to make her rich.

But the grandmother, who describes herself as a “real patriot,” said what she got for the $1,500 she invested in Trump Bucks turned out to be fool’s gold.

An Alabama grandmother said a Bank of America teller told her that she'd seen dozens of people coming in to cash these products.

 

“I saw all these ads on Telegram that had Trump pushing coins and checks that he endorsed and how you can cash them in after a year and make a profit,” the grandmother, who lives in Mobile, told NBC News. “I was told how you can go to Bank of America or Target or Amazon to cash them in.”

About six months ago, the grandmother said, she gathered up the Trump Bucks and commemorative coins she had purchased and drove 60 miles east to the nearest Bank of America branch she could find in Pensacola, Florida.

There, she said, she was greeted by a teller who told her she’d been scammed.

“When we get there the lady tells me she’s seen dozens of people coming in to cash these checks and they have nothing to do with this,” the grandmother said.

A Florida woman who lives north of Tampa, and who also asked not to be identified by name because she fears internet harassment, said her 77-year-old mother-in-law was also fooled into investing tens of thousands of dollars in Trump Bucks.

“My mother-in-law has always been conservative and prone to believe in conspiracy theories,” she said. “But after Trump lost the election, she went down the internet rabbit hole with this.”

This isn’t the first time her mother-in-law has fallen prey to a Trump-inspired scam. 

“Several years back, she got into Nesara, which says that a radical reset of the U.S. economy is coming and all debts are going to be wiped out,” the Florida woman said. “She thinks she’s getting all the money back and that she’ll make a huge profit too.”

First, the Florida woman said, her mother-in-law “started buying all this support Trump memorabilia from a website that clearly states it's memorabilia.

Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots claim purchasers will be able to cash coins and checks like these in at major banks and retailers like Walmart, Costco and Home Depot

 

“From there, she went to other sites which has all sorts of people claiming that if you buy these Trump coins or these Trump checks for, say, a hundred dollars, you’ll be able to take them to a bank and cash them in for thousands of dollars.”

To prove to her mother-in-law that she had been swindled, the Florida woman said she drove her to a nearby bank and urged her to try to redeem the Trump Bucks in her possession.

“We thought she got it, she even admitted she got scammed,” the Florida woman said. “But then giant boxes arrived at the house full of Trump checks and other stuff that she bought for $500 and that would supposedly be worth $6 million one day. We tell her she’s getting scammed and she says, ‘Just wait, Trump will make all the patriots rich.’”

“It’s like she’s in a cult,” the Florida woman said.

Who profits?

Good question. It’s not clear who concocted the TRB system scheme or created the fake promotional videos.

A 2022 New York Times investigation reported a Romanian marketing company to be at the origin of so-called Trump coins — which had been wildly popular in 2022 and were also fraudulently marketed as a kind of alternative currency.

Most of the posts and videos for the TRB system currently link to websites registered with the company names Patriots Dynasty, Patriots Future and USA Patriots, whose listed address can be traced to Shipoffers.com, a shipping center in Aurora, Colorado.

Shipoffers warehouse manager Josh Pier said the center ships Trump-related products but said it doesn't manufacture them. He declined to discuss what those products are and would not confirm the names of the companies it ships for. The company handles shipping for a variety of companies, he said.

Pier was echoed by Tony Grebmeier, one of the Shipoffers owners, who said he was unaware of any problems with any of the products the company ships and said if he was aware of any issues he’d take care of them.

Responding to overwhelmingly negative Google reviews, Shipoffers tells unhappy buyers that it doesn't actually make the products or bill customers.

The TRB products are purchased through online retailers ClickBank and Digistore24, which are affiliate marketing networks based in Idaho and Florida that connect would-be promoters with products to sell and earn commissions.

The unique links posted across social media and in the captions of YouTube videos contain the usernames of these affiliate marketers, who get a cut from each sale generated by the fraudulent ads.

A list of URLS for just one website, shows hundreds of affiliate marketers associated with a TRB membership booklet, a product falsely marketed as necessary to redeem the TRB products for real money.

NBC News has also reached out to ClickBank, Digistore24 and ShipOffers for comment. When an NBC News reporter called the Patriots Dynasty phone number, she got a busy signal. There was also no response to an email sent to the address associated with Patriots Dynasty.

The Alabama grandmother says she was initially fooled by the AI version of Trump she saw in the ads. She trusted Trump’s supposed business acumen and thought this was a good investment to have something to leave behind for her children.

“Now I realize, well, that was stupid,” she said. “But I bought them because I believed President Trump, because he knows all about finance, and he was going to help the real Trump Patriots get rich.”

 

If they were not intended to be fleeced, they would not have been made sheep.

[BrickHorn 18284]

 

Trump Bucks have a 1:1 conversion rate for Dunning-Krugerands. 

[cactusflinthead 27601]

 

[atomheartbevo 89789]

Every accusation

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/charlie-kirk-tpusa-teamed-registered-130000054.html

Quote

Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk is cheerleading the far-right boycott of Target over the retailer’s Pride collection — which included trans-friendly youth apparel and other LGBTQ-positive gear — for what Kirk decries as “their support for grooming kids.”

Kirk’s condemnation of the retailer coincided with TPUSA’s second-annual Pastors Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, this past week, where Kirk also denounced Target, telling a crowd of hundreds of religious leaders: “If you love God, you must hate evil.”

Quote

Yet in delivering these fevered messages about morality and child welfare, Kirk had an odd benefactor, a man whose criminal history opens up TPUSA to charges of hypocrisy.

Rolling Stone has learned that one of the TPUSA summit’s corporate sponsors is a Christian fashion company that is led by a registered sex offender, Shawn Bergstrand, who served time in federal prison for attempted “coercion and enticement” after trying to persuade “a minor female” to “engage in sexual activity.”

Quote

In a statement to Rolling Stone, TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said that TPUSA Faith “was not aware of this incident” but emphasized that, as an “exhibit sponsor,” Bergstrand was not a speaker, organizer, or “professing doctrine from the stage.”

Quote

“One of the core tenets of the Christian faith is forgiveness rooted in repentance. After discussing the issue with him, we believe [it] was critical to bringing him to faith,” Kolvet added. “He doesn’t hide from what happened, he instead posts his testimony online on his company website. TPUSA Faith will not toss away a repentant, decent person because of a mistake that happened over a decade before, or because a leftwing outlet wants to write a hit piece on the amazing work our team is doing.” Kolvet included a reference to Colossians 3:13, a Bible verse that reads, in part, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

 

[Aqua Buddha 14608]

 

[HenryJames 66170]

Wasn’t Joey Mannarino the name of John Travolta’s character on Welcome Back, Kotter?

[Beau Vine 54422]

 

[nbmishoid 962]

41 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

 

 

30 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

Wasn’t Joey Mannarino the name of John Travolta’s character on Welcome Back, Kotter?

Vinny Barbarino

[TheStoicPaisano 9938]

Joey Mannarino, he’s a WOP fucktard.

[Bozo_Casanova 26542]

On 5/27/2023 at 11:36 AM, Francisco 2.0 said:

But the grandmother, who describes herself as a “real patriot,”

Spoiler

She wasn't, though

 

[YGIFS 19452]

Apparently Tony Marinara was unavailable for comment.  

A trivial amount of spending cuts in the grand scheme of things, and now some Fresno lunatic is probably gonna try to take out McCarthy for doing his job.  

[Post Oak 20262]

Can you imagine being a woman who votes for and with these assholes?  

Have some fucking self respect you idiots.

[Bama Chick 28596]

 

The replies to that tweet are

[Chooky 13319]

13 hours ago, Post Oak said:

Can you imagine being a woman who votes for and with these assholes?  

Have some fucking self respect you idiots.

Stupid whores.

[chainsaw 9873]

15 hours ago, HenryJames said:

Wasn’t Joey Mannarino the name of John Travolta’s character on Welcome Back, Kotter?