Alt-Right Starts #DumpStarWars Campaign Over Trump Rumor
The "alt-right" movement started a #DumpStarWars campaign on Twitter Dec. 8 because of rumors that President-elect Donald Trump is going to be attacked in the upcoming film: "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story."
The Daily Beast notes that a fake meme, tweeted by Jack Posobiec, claimed the film's writers called Trump a "Nazi," and that they changed the ending of the film to "bash Trump."
TheWrap reports that Posobiec also tweeted:
"Star Wars writers rewrote and reshot Rogue One to add in Anti Trump scenes calling him a racist. Disgusting.#DumpStarWars."
"I just [canceled] my Star Wars Rogue One tickets after the writers said its an Anti-Trump movie. I'll take my dollars elsewhere."
A Disney representative told The Wrap that claims about the film being altered are false.
However, that hasn't stopped "alt-right" Twitter users from spreading the falsehood, notes The Daily Beast.
Mike Cernovich tweeted: "Right wingers work hard and then [give] their money to people who hate them. This must change. #DumpStarWars for calling you Nazis."
Baked Alaska, who helped push an earlier Starbucks boycott, tweeted: "Stop using your multiculturalism anti-American agenda in a science fiction Disney movie. We just want to enjoy a fun movie. #DumpStarWars"
There are some indications that the film's writers lean to the left.
Chris Weitz, one the film's scribes, tweeted in November: "Please note that the Empire is a white supremacist (human organization)."
Weitz and co-writer Gary Whitta also changed their Twitter logos to a "Star Wars" rebel sign that included a safety pin, which represented safety and solidarity among minorities after Trump won, reports The Daily Beast.
Weitz tweeted the image Nov. 11, along with the caption: "Star Wars against hate. Spread it."
This past Twitter behavior was recently brought up with screenshots on the Reddit message board r/altright, which sent those "alt-right" users into a furious call for a boycott.
The Daily Beast notes there was a #BoycottStarWarsVII Twitter campaign in October 2015 to protest a lead character in "The Force Awakens" who was African-American, which was called by some "anti-white propaganda."
Sources: The Daily Beast, The Wrap / Photo Credit: StarWars.com
