On Saturday, a group of men in masks and shin guards calling themselves "Patriot Front" marched on Washington DC with shields and American flags under a banner that read "Reclaim America."
By now, sights like this aren't exactly surprising—this is the umpteenth iteration of the various anti-democracy, pro-White nationalism groups obsessed with former Republican President Donald Trump that have gone to the capital to cause a spectacle.
But what is new is this time, they don't have the support of many of their fellow pro-Trump compatriots.
Because, you see, the MAGA minions think these guys were undercover FBI.
Why?
Because no one was obese.
lol MAGAs convincing themselves the Patriot Front march was an FBI op because none of them are disgusting and fat pic.twitter.com/mZDE6yHSFU
— Sam Adler-Bell (@SamAdlerBell) December 7, 2021
Jacob Wohl
@TaraLaRosa/Twitter
@DineshDSouza/Twitter
@WendyRogersAZ/Twitter
Given their propensity to fall for essentially anything no matter how absurd so long as it is rooted in the idea they are being oppressed, it's not exactly surprising the MAGA crowd are falling for this one.
But even for this crowd, this particular furor is ridiculous.
Physical fitness and so-called "alpha males"—a designation which the movement's own definition requires a dedication to fitness—have been core obsessions of Trump-obsessed far-right and White nationalist groups for years. You don't see many overweight Proud Boys either, but nobody doubts their allegiance.
But it wasn't just their svelte physiques that had MAGA bots convinced Patriot Front is fake. Several far-right figures cited the group's ultra-coordinated appearance and the fact they claim to have never heard of Patriot Front as reasons they believe the recent march was an FBI ruse.
But this is even more absurd than the obesity rationale.
Even the most cursory research reveals not only is Patriot Front not new, it was one of the group's members, Alex Fields, who drove his car into a crowd at the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and killed Heather Heyer—whose weight, by the way, has been an obsession among White nationalists ever since.
Unsurprisingly, right-wingers clearly didn't bother to simply Google the group.
Right-wing circles online immediately filled up with takes about how Patriot Front simply has to be an FBI psy-op. Podcaster Joe Rogan went into a lengthy rant about it on a recent episode of his podcast.
Joe Rogan calls bullshit on the bizarre Patriot Front rally. pic.twitter.com/aw11u1BaeU
— Mythinformed MKE (@MythinformedMKE) December 8, 2021
QAnon and MAGA devoted Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene also claimed to neither know nor believe in Patriot Front for similar reasons.
Marge Greene has now joined the chorus of MAGAs claiming that the ‘Patriot Front’ march in DC last night was a false flag operation. pic.twitter.com/Lp6mtw9zj9
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 6, 2021
On Twitter, those with a foot still planted in reality were astonished by the absurdity of the claims.
The latest right wing insanity I’m seeing tonight is that the Patriot Front march in DC had to be “staged by the Feds,” because everyone was too clean cut and there were no beer guts. They’re basically saying MAGA can only look like out of shape hillbillies.
— Eric Ansley Diaz 🏳️🌈 (@GeekBoyEric) December 6, 2021
The Charlottesville Tiki Torchers were in pretty good shape also. They obv learned from that, now they’re rocking the face covers
— PAUL9000 (@koinoyokan77) December 7, 2021
Would the fbi had to wait a couple of hours in a parking lot for a uhaul van to pick them up?
— craig carlson (@harpodad) December 7, 2021
And we thought we could fool them! They're just way too smart for us! https://t.co/UT8y9OInVw
— Nasty Woman (@HandToForehead) December 7, 2021
the reason why a good portion of the pro-trump right wants to pretend patriot front is an fbi op is the same reason they tried to claim jan. 6 was carried out by feds/antifa: they want all the benefits of fascist street action without any of the consequences.
— hannah gais (@hannahgais) December 7, 2021
The fun exciting thing for conservatives to do is pretend that Patriot Front is an FBI plant because they absolutely refuse to acknowledge that they have been around for over 4 years and they are tied to Unite the Right.
— Goad Gatsby (@GoadGatsby) December 5, 2021
"Anything that makes me look bad is an op"
— Smooth Brain Dipshit (@Cosmic3k) December 5, 2021
My HS color guard could march better.
— michele babcock (@michelebabcock) December 5, 2021
Obsfucation is almost rule one now - just behind deny and pivot... oh this is obsfucation....
— VOTING RIGHTS OR NOTHING!!! (@RossiCJohn) December 5, 2021
Of course, with the right-wing's sustained campaign of claiming the January 6 insurrection was also an FBI and CIA psy-op having been so successful among themselves, we should all get used to these sorts of absurd claims.
They probably aren't going anywhere.