President Troll: Trump, 4Chan and Memetic Warfare

Abstract

An alt-right troll culture forms one of the most important supports for the Trump presidency, but Trump himself can be seen to incarnate this troll culture in his relationship with the mainstream media and his critics and his embrace of chaotic unpredictability. It is, however, at the level of satire that Trump remains weakest. His intellectual, political and media critics are easily dismissed but Trump has shown a remarkable preoccupation with and sensitivity to comedians. Trump himself, therefore has been trolled by both the mainstream media and by the global, online public. The Trump presidency, therefore, serves as a good case–study of the rise of a new form of mainstream ‘troll-politics’—a political conversation characterized by a reciprocal, ongoing memetic warfare.