Tech-ignorant “antifa.com” attacks jump from a “proud Islamophobe” to Newsmax and Fox News

For the second time in several months, conservative voices dumbly and wrongly claim that “antifa.com” redirecting to Joe Biden proves that Democrats are terrorists

Some right-wing media figures are trying to scandalize the fact that, after President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the URL antifa.com redirects to the official White House website. These absurd attacks are a rehash of equally absurd campaign-era attacks over the same domain redirecting to Biden’s campaign website.

Even though anybody can buy a URL and redirect it to another website without that site owner’s permission, the antifa.com redirect is being used  to suggest or claim that “the Democrat party is a terrorist organization." Just like the last time this attack emerged, a website redirect is absolutely no proof of coordination, endorsement, or anything like that. 

Nonetheless, the latest version of this ridiculous ignorance reemerged in fever swamp right-wing message boards like TheDonald and 4chan’s “politically incorrect.” It was also picked up by Brent Bozell, founder and president of the allegedly respectable Media Research Center, and pushed on Gab and Telegram by Laura Loomer, a failed GOP congressional nominee, “proud Islamophobe,” and general embarrassment. She repeatedly used the “BREAKING” news to declare the Democratic Party “a terrorist organization.” 

On Newsmax TV, host Chris Salcedo suggested that the antifa.com redirect was proof that “the Socialist Democrats” were proud of the political violence “they dished out.” Referring to the absurdly misleading attack, Salcedo asked his viewers, “How many in the so-called press is going to tell you that? I’d venture nobody, because The Chris Salcedo Show actually believes in informing our audience.”

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From the January 20, 2020, edition of Newsmax TV's The Chris Salcedo Show

The misleading smear completed the jump to Fox News on the first morning of the Biden presidency. Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy alleged that one of his children told him that “up on the World Wide Web, type in antifa.com, and you know where it takes you this morning? Takes you to the White House.” Co-host Ainsley Earhardt replied with a fascinated “Really? Interesting.” 

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From the January 21, 2021, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends