R/The Donald

On June 27, 2015, shortly after Donald Trump announced his campaign for the presidency, the subreddit was created as a place for "following the news related to Donald Trump during his presidential run".{{cite news|last1=Koebler|first1=Jason|title=How r/the_donald Became a Melting Pot of Frustration and Hate|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-is-rthedonald-donald-trump-subreddit/|date=July 12, 2016|work=Motherboard|access-date=November 24, 2016|language=en-us|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115204149/http://motherboard.vice.com/read/what-is-rthedonald-donald-trump-subreddit|archive-date=November 15, 2016}}{{Cite journal |last1=Horta Ribeiro |first1=Manoel |last2=Jhaver |first2=Shagun |last3=Zannettou |first3=Savvas |last4=Blackburn |first4=Jeremy |last5=Stringhini |first5=Gianluca |last6=De Cristofaro |first6=Emiliano |last7=West |first7=Robert |date=2021-10-18 |title=Do Platform Migrations Compromise Content Moderation? Evidence from r/The_Donald and r/Incels |url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3476057 |journal=Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction |volume=5 |issue=CSCW2 |pages=316:1–316:24 |doi=10.1145/3476057|arxiv=2010.10397 |s2cid=224803187 }} The subreddit grew to be known for frequent posting of memes, especially Pepe the Frog, and frequent uses of slang terms such as "centipede" (a reference to a much-distributed Trump highlight reel featuring the Knife Party song "Centipede"),{{cite news|last1=Lagorio-chafkin|first1=Christine|title=Reddit and the God Emperor of the Internet|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/opinion/sunday/reddit-and-the-god-emperor-of-the-internet.html|access-date=November 25, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=November 19, 2016|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124074424/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/opinion/sunday/reddit-and-the-god-emperor-of-the-internet.html|archive-date=November 24, 2016}}{{cite news|title=The origin of the specious|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/07/daily-chart-0|access-date=July 10, 2017|newspaper=The Economist|url-access=limited|date=July 4, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710035513/https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/07/daily-chart-0|archive-date=July 10, 2017}} "MAGA", "nimble navigator", "no brakes", "cuck", "4D chess", and "SJW".{{cite news|last1=Kostarelis|first1=Stefan|title=REPORTS: Trump just accidentally gave highly classified info to a Russian minister|url=https://www.techly.com.au/2017/05/16/wapo-trump-gave-the-russians-classified-information/|access-date=May 25, 2017|work=Techly|date=May 16, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516203425/https://www.techly.com.au/2017/05/16/wapo-trump-gave-the-russians-classified-information/|archive-date=May 16, 2017}} Furthermore, users on the site referred to Trump as "God Emperor". For a period of time, the subreddit repeatedly posted an image of Hillary Clinton kissing Robert Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. The image was accompanied by a photoshopped picture of an aged Byrd in Klan garb, which was meant to falsely portray Clinton and Byrd as Klan supporters. Byrd had severed ties with the Ku Klux Klan in 1952.{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/trumps-troll-army-takes-aim-at-hillary/news-story/31a0811af1196dc03bca478a99d970a7|title=Trump's troll army takes aim at Clinton|date=May 19, 2016|work=news.com.au|last1=Chung|first1=Frank|access-date=January 11, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113161341/http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/trumps-troll-army-takes-aim-at-hillary/news-story/31a0811af1196dc03bca478a99d970a7|archive-date=January 13, 2017}}

In April 2016, jcm267, the founder of the subreddit, attributed the popularity of the subreddit to moderator CisWhiteMaelstrom. jcm267 told MSNBC that CisWhiteMaelstrom told him "we'd have hundreds of thousands of readers there and I was very skeptical about that, not because I thought Trump can't win, because I think he's the only GOPer [Grand Old Partier] with 'landslide victory' potential, but because Reddit is not a conservative place".{{cite news|last1=Sarlin|first1=Benjy|title=How an army of pro-Donald Trump trolls are taking over Reddit|url=https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/how-donald-trumps-army-trolls-took-over-reddit|access-date=February 4, 2017|publisher=MSNBC|date=April 14, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203181841/http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/how-donald-trumps-army-trolls-took-over-reddit|archive-date=February 3, 2017}} Subsequently, CisWhiteMaelstrom deleted his Reddit account.{{cite news|last1=Sarlin|first1=Benjy|title=Trump's Reddit Fan Club Grapples With Crackdown, Infighting|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-s-reddit-fan-club-faces-crackdown-civil-war-n601441|access-date=May 21, 2017|publisher=NBC News|date=July 1, 2016|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531050034/http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-s-reddit-fan-club-faces-crackdown-civil-war-n601441|archive-date=May 31, 2017}} On June 12, 2016, the day of the Orlando nightclub shooting, moderators of the r/news subreddit began to remove many comments from its megathread pertaining to the shooting, leading to accusations of censorship.{{cite news|last1=Koebler|first1=Jason|title=Orlando Shooting Response Shows Reddit Can't Be the 'Front Page of the Internet'|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/orlando-shooting-response-shows-reddit-cant-be-the-front-page-of-the-internet/|access-date=July 18, 2017|work=Motherboard|date=June 13, 2016|language=en-us|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706073521/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9a33ep/orlando-shooting-response-shows-reddit-cant-be-the-front-page-of-the-internet|archive-date=July 6, 2017}}{{Cite news |last=Ohlheiser |first=Abby |date=June 14, 2016 |title=Redditors checked r/news for updates on the Orlando shooting. Instead, they found a war. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/06/13/redditors-checked-rnews-for-updates-on-the-orlando-shooting-instead-they-found-a-war |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124182724/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/06/13/redditors-checked-rnews-for-updates-on-the-orlando-shooting-instead-they-found-a-war/ |archive-date=24 January 2020}} Due to deliberate manipulation by the forum's moderators and active users, the algorithm that dictated what content reached the r/all page of Reddit resulted in a significant portion of the page being r/The_Donald content. In response, Reddit administrators made changes to its algorithms on June 15, 2016, in an attempt to preserve the variety of r/all. Around this time, members of the then-recently quarantined white nationalist subreddit r/European began migrating to r/The_Donald, causing tensions with the userbase. In response, the moderators instituted several changes, such as banning off-topic discussions and purging lower-ranked moderators deemed inactive or unwilling to enforce the new rule. TrumpGal, who was appointed as CisWhiteMaelstrom's replacement, then stepped down claiming that the users tried to dox her for these changes. As her replacements were accused of being too liberal and of instituting censorship, several users and the previously purged moderators moved to a new subreddit named r/Mr_Trump.{{cite web|last=Romano |first=Aja |title=Reddit's biggest Trump community is fracturing over right-wing extremism |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/5/21/11701482/donald-trump-subreddit-drama-europeans |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920062137/https://www.vox.com/2016/5/21/11701482/donald-trump-subreddit-drama-europeans |website=Vox|archive-date=September 20, 2021 |date=May 21, 2016 |access-date= September 4, 2022|url-status=live}} In November 2016, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman reported that the moderators for r/The_Donald had changed "at least four times" due to the community revolting.

The subreddit hosted "Ask Me Anythings" (AMAs) of notable right-wing, conservative figures supportive of Trump including Scott Adams, Ann Coulter, Alex Jones, Helmut Norpoth, Curt Schilling, Peter Schweizer, Roger Stone, Milo Yiannopoulos,{{cite web|first=Josh|last=Herrman|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/business/media/in-reddits-unruly-corners-trump-finds-support.html|title=Donald Trump Finds Support in Reddit's Unruly Corners|work=The New York Times|date=April 9, 2016|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921064618/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/business/media/in-reddits-unruly-corners-trump-finds-support.html|archive-date=September 21, 2016}} Tucker Carlson,{{cite news|last1=Resnick|first1=Gideon|title=Tucker Carlson: 'Good Reporters' Heckle Obama, 'Rude' Reporters Interrupt Trump|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/13/tucker-carlson-good-reporters-heckle-obama-rude-reporters-interrupt-trump.html|access-date=January 18, 2017|work=The Daily Beast|date=January 13, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117234458/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/13/tucker-carlson-good-reporters-heckle-obama-rude-reporters-interrupt-trump.html|archive-date=January 17, 2017}} and Corey Stewart.{{Cite news |last=Vozzella |first=Laura |date=March 24, 2017 |title=GOP chair slams Va. gubernatorial contender for calling rival a 'cuckservative' |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/gop-chair-slams-va-gubernatorial-contender-for-calling-rival-a-cuckservative/2017/03/24/4732cb46-10bc-11e7-9b0d-d27c98455440_story.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327041503/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/gop-chair-slams-va-gubernatorial-contender-for-calling-rival-a-cuckservative/2017/03/24/4732cb46-10bc-11e7-9b0d-d27c98455440_story.html |archive-date=March 27, 2017}} Furthermore, Trump himself hosted an AMA on the subreddit on July 27, 2016,{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-drop-reddit-where-he-s-already-phenomenon-n617356|title=Donald Trump to Drop In on Reddit, Where He's Already a Phenomenon|last=Sarlin|first=Benjy|date=July 27, 2016|publisher=NBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113213056/http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-drop-reddit-where-he-s-already-phenomenon-n617356|archive-date=November 13, 2016|url-status=live|access-date=November 24, 2016}}

In September 2016, Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR, introduced a non-profit organization on r/The_Donald called "Nimble America" with the stated purpose of creating and spreading pro-Trump Internet memes through "Facebook ads, billboards, and 'website ops'".{{cite news|last1=Resnick|first1=Gideon|title=Palmer Luckey: The Facebook Near-Billionaire Secretly Funding Trump's Meme Machine|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/22/palmer-luckey-the-facebook-billionaire-secretly-funding-trump-s-meme-machine.html|website=The Daily Beast|date=September 22, 2016|access-date=December 24, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223014043/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/22/palmer-luckey-the-facebook-billionaire-secretly-funding-trump-s-meme-machine.html|archive-date=December 23, 2016}} Luckey stated that he had donated $10,000 to the organization and offered to match contributions from r/The_Donald users for 48 hours after the announcement.{{cite web|last1=Hern|first1=Alex|title=Oculus Rift founder Palmer Luckey spends fortune backing pro-Trump 'shitposts'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/23/oculus-rift-vr-palmer-luckey-trump-shitposts|website=The Guardian|date=September 23, 2016|access-date=December 24, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170110080745/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/23/oculus-rift-vr-palmer-luckey-trump-shitposts|archive-date=January 10, 2017}} Luckey later apologized for any negative impact his actions had on public perception of Oculus, and stated that he acted independently, not as a representative of Oculus VR.{{cite news|last1=Grubb|first1=Jeff|title=Palmer Luckey: 'I am deeply sorry that my actions' hurt Oculus|url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/09/23/palmer-luckey-i-am-deeply-sorry-that-my-actions-hurt-oculus/|access-date=December 24, 2016|work=VentureBeat|date=September 23, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227135714/http://venturebeat.com/2016/09/23/palmer-luckey-i-am-deeply-sorry-that-my-actions-hurt-oculus/|archive-date=December 27, 2016}}

The subreddit was also noted for investigating Clinton's leaked emails after their release by WikiLeaks.{{Cite news|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dissecting-trumps-most-rabid-online-following/|title=Dissecting Trump's Most Rabid Online Following|last=Martin|first=Trevor|date=March 23, 2017|work=FiveThirtyEight|access-date=March 24, 2017|language=en-US|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323190959/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/dissecting-trumps-most-rabid-online-following/|archive-date=March 23, 2017}} Their findings were subsequently reported by right-wing news media{{cite news|last1=Gilmour|first1=David|title=The anti-Trump resistance is helping reporters dig up dirt on the president|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/donald-trump-inauguration-donations-crowdsourced-journalism-reddit-twitter/|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=The Daily Dot|date=April 25, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425135006/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/donald-trump-inauguration-donations-crowdsourced-journalism-reddit-twitter/|archive-date=April 25, 2017}} while WikiLeaks acknowledged the subreddit in a tweet.{{cite news|last1=Collins|first1=Ben|title=WikiLeaks' Latest 'Find' Is a Conspiracy Theory From Trump's Subreddit|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/wikileaks-latest-find-is-a-conspiracy-theory-from-trumps-subreddit|access-date=September 18, 2017|work=The Daily Beast|date=November 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818231835/http://www.thedailybeast.com/wikileaks-latest-find-is-a-conspiracy-theory-from-trumps-subreddit|archive-date=August 18, 2017|url-status=live}} The subreddit also coordinated to vote on many online polls during the 2016 presidential debates.{{cite news|last1=Khalid|first1=Amrita|date=September 15, 2017|title=Unpacking The_Donald, the internet's pro-Trump bunker|work=The Daily Dot|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reddit-the-donald/|url-status=live|access-date=September 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929044021/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reddit-the-donald/|archive-date=September 29, 2017}}

The subreddit frequently attempted to manipulate Amazon.com's booklist via vote brigading, or encouraging subscribers to cast a certain review en masse. In November 2016, the subreddit was reportedly mobilizing readers to leave one-star reviews on Amazon.com for Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly's autobiography, Settle for More, in response to what users considered biased reporting from her.{{cite news |last1=Battaglio |first1=Stephen |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-kelly-trump-20161116-story.html |title=Trump supporters try to undermine Megyn Kelly's book with an onslaught of negative reviews on Amazon |website=Los Angeles Times |date=November 16, 2016 |access-date=November 24, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124011928/http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-kelly-trump-20161116-story.html |archive-date=November 24, 2016 }} Amazon later removed many of the negative reviews.{{cite news|last1=Zillman|first1=Claire|title=Amazon Reviews Are Being Hijacked by Commentary on Donald Trump|url=http://fortune.com/2016/11/25/amazon-reviews-megyn-kelly-donald-trump/|access-date=November 25, 2016|work=Fortune|date=November 25, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126131338/http://fortune.com/2016/11/25/amazon-reviews-megyn-kelly-donald-trump/|archive-date=November 26, 2016}} Later, in September 2017, the subreddit attempted to buy copies of Trump's Great Again: How To Fix Our Crippled America to outsell Hillary Clinton's then-upcoming book What Happened. However, their plan backfired when several users bought other Trump books instead such as Trump: The Art of the Deal while Clinton's book reached No. 1 on the site.{{cite news|last1=Neilan|first1=Dan|title=Trump trolls crafted a secret plan to ruin Clinton book sales, totally botched it|url=https://www.avclub.com/trump-trolls-crafted-a-secret-plan-to-ruin-clinton-book-1809949496|access-date=September 18, 2017|work=The A.V. Club|date=September 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918140940/https://www.avclub.com/trump-trolls-crafted-a-secret-plan-to-ruin-clinton-book-1809949496|archive-date=September 18, 2017|url-status=live}}

On November 22, 2016, the moderators of r/The_Donald announced that they were going to start removing posts about some conspiracy theories, such as the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory and a rumor that Julian Assange had disappeared, citing that such content was "drowning out thoughtful discussion or Trump-related content".{{cite news|last1=Jackson|first1=Jasper|title=Moderators of pro-Trump Reddit group linked to fake news crackdown on posts|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/22/moderators-trump-reddit-group-fake-news-crackdown|access-date=November 25, 2016|work=The Guardian|date=November 22, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125060404/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/22/moderators-trump-reddit-group-fake-news-crackdown|archive-date=November 25, 2016}} The next day, CEO Steve Huffman admitted to editing the comments of r/The_Donald users by replacing his username (u/spez) within their comments insulting him with the usernames of r/The_Donald moderators instead. Huffman said of the change that "I had my fun with them, they had their fun with me, but we are not going to tolerate harassment for any others." One week later, Huffman apologized for his actions, and offered a filter feature to the website, allowing users to exclude subreddits from their r/all page.{{cite web|last1=Kravets|first1=David|title=Reddit CEO who altered comments apologizes, unveils subreddit filtering|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/11/reddit-ceo-issues-mea-culpa-unveils-proactive-approach-to-site-policing/|website=Ars Technica|access-date=January 12, 2017|date=November 30, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118060411/http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/11/reddit-ceo-issues-mea-culpa-unveils-proactive-approach-to-site-policing/|archive-date=January 18, 2017}} Starting in February 2017, the subreddit, along with other "narrowly-focused politically-related subreddits", was notably excluded from Reddit's updated homepage, r/popular.{{cite news|last1=Menegus|first1=Bryan|title=Reddit Is Finally Fixing its Trump Spam Problem|url=https://gizmodo.com/reddit-is-finally-fixing-its-trump-spam-problem-1792061056|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=Gizmodo|date=February 6, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519051402/http://gizmodo.com/reddit-is-finally-fixing-its-trump-spam-problem-1792061056|archive-date=May 19, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=McCormick|first1=Rich|title=Reddit overhauls its front page for new users and lurkers|url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/15/14632390/reddit-front-page-popular-change-new-users|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=The Verge|date=February 15, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613002348/https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/15/14632390/reddit-front-page-popular-change-new-users|archive-date=June 13, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Scarola|first1=Cory|title=Reddit Gave Its Homepage a Makeover|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/27943-reddit-popular-subreddit-homepage|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=Inverse|date=February 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820121443/https://www.inverse.com/article/27943-reddit-popular-subreddit-homepage|archive-date=August 20, 2017}}

In the beginning of January 2017, BuzzFeed published the Steele dossier, which alleged that the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government. In response, members of the subreddit stated that the document was "fan fiction" sent to Republican political strategist Rick Wilson by members of the 4chan forum /pol/.{{cite news |last1=Griffin |first1=Andrew |title=4chan claims to have made up the explosive new Trump memo |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/donald-trump-4chan-rumours-document-real-russia-sex-claims-prostitutes-a7520841.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |work=The Independent |date=January 11, 2017 |language=en}} Later that day, Republican senator John McCain confirmed that he had sent the dossier to FBI director James Comey several months earlier.{{cite web|last1=Baragona|first1=Justin|title=John McCain Confirms He Delivered Trump/Russia Dossier to James Comey|url=http://www.mediaite.com/online/john-mccain-confirms-he-delivered-trumprussia-dossier-to-james-comey/|publisher=mediaite.com|access-date=January 14, 2017|date=January 11, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113145258/http://www.mediaite.com/online/john-mccain-confirms-he-delivered-trumprussia-dossier-to-james-comey/|archive-date=January 13, 2017}}

In July 2017, it was discovered that a congressional staffer for Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) asked for users on r/The_Donald to crowdsource information for a congressional amendment that would look into alleged misconduct on the parts of Hillary Clinton and James Comey. Gaetz confirmed the user was a staffer in an interview with Wired, stating that "it is the responsibility of our staff to gather as much information as possible when researching a subject and provide that information for consideration. We pride ourselves on seeking as much citizen input as possible."{{Cite magazine |last=Feinberg |first=Ashley |date=July 28, 2017 |title=The GOP Crowdsourced an Anti-Clinton Amendment From Reddit |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/story/republican-staffer-the-donald-resolution/ |url-status=live |access-date=2023-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728205554/https://www.wired.com/story/republican-staffer-the-donald-resolution |archive-date=July 28, 2017 |issn=1059-1028}}

On August 5, 2017, a post encouraging users to attend the Unite the Right rally, a white supremacist and neo-Nazi rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, was stickied by r/The_Donald's moderators.{{Cite web|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/6rsng3/unite_the_right_in_charlottesville_next_week/|title=Unite the Right in Charlottesville Next Week!|date=August 5, 2017|via=Reddit|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170805203139/https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/6rsng3/unite_the_right_in_charlottesville_next_week/|archive-date=August 5, 2017|access-date=December 19, 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/reddit-quarantines-pro-trump-subreddit-the_donald-over-anti-police-threats|title=Reddit 'Quarantines' Pro-Trump Subreddit Over Anti-Police Threats|last=Sommer|first=Will|date=June 26, 2019|work=The Daily Beast|access-date=December 19, 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626205807/https://www.thedailybeast.com/reddit-quarantines-pro-trump-subreddit-the_donald-over-anti-police-threats/|archive-date=June 26, 2019}} The post was deleted some time on August 13, 2017, a day after the rally ended in the first-degree murder of counter-protester Heather Heyer and the injury of 19 others by white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/story/alt-right-charlottesville-reddit-4chan/|title=The Alt-Right Can't Disown Charlottesville|last=Feinberg|first=Ashley|date=August 13, 2017|magazine=Wired|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830023235/https://www.wired.com/story/alt-right-charlottesville-reddit-4chan/|archive-date=August 30, 2019|access-date=December 19, 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/12/racism-slurs-reddit-post-ceo-steve-huffman|title=Open racism and slurs are fine to post on Reddit, says CEO|last=Gibbs|first=Samuel|date=April 12, 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=December 28, 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224083309/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/12/racism-slurs-reddit-post-ceo-steve-huffman|archive-date=December 24, 2019}}

Members of the subreddit maintained a Discord server called "Centipede Central", which peaked at 16,000 active users in October 2017{{cite news|last1=Koebler|first1=Jason|title=Internet's Most Popular Donald Trump Chat Room Destroyed in Anime-Related 'Coup'|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-happened-to-centipede-central-discord-trump-memes/|access-date=October 8, 2017|work=Motherboard|date=October 4, 2017|language=en-us|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008080547/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/a3kq94/what-happened-to-centipede-central-discord-trump-memes|archive-date=October 8, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Broderick|first1=Ryan|title=Trump Supporters Have Built A Document With The Addresses And Phone Numbers Of Thousands Of Anti-Trump Activists|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/trump-supporters-have-built-a-document-with-the-addresses|access-date=May 23, 2017|work=BuzzFeed News|date=May 21, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725003042/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/trump-supporters-have-built-a-document-with-the-addresses|archive-date=July 25, 2018}} and was among the largest servers on Discord.{{cite news|last1=Menegus|first1=Bryan|title=Reddit Is Tearing Itself Apart|url=https://gizmodo.com/reddit-is-tearing-itself-apart-1789406294|access-date=May 23, 2017|work=Gizmodo|date=November 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523064824/https://gizmodo.com/reddit-is-tearing-itself-apart-1789406294|archive-date=May 23, 2017}} The server was criticized for leaking personal information of anti-Trump activists,{{Cite web|url=https://mic.com/articles/177726/trump-supporters-have-compiled-data-on-thousands-who-signed-anti-fascist-petition |title=Trump supporters have compiled data on thousands who signed anti-fascist petition |last=McKay |first=Tom |date=May 21, 2017 |access-date=May 23, 2017 |publisher=mic.com }} which caused The_Donald to sever ties with the group. The server was eventually shut down in a coup in October 2017, which scattered its members to smaller communities.

In January 2018, former Senior Counselor Steve Bannon's statements regarding Trump were published in Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury". After Trump himself criticized Bannon's comments, many individuals on the subreddit turned against Bannon. The negative comments were subsequently covered by Vanity Fair and Independent Journal Review.{{cite news|last1=Nguyen|first1=Tina|title="He Reaped What He Sowed": Trump Excommunicates Bannon and the Base Follows Suit|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/01/trump-excommunicates-bannon-and-the-base-follows-suit|access-date=February 7, 2018|work=The Hive|date=January 4, 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180125092419/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/01/trump-excommunicates-bannon-and-the-base-follows-suit|archive-date=January 25, 2018|url-status=live}}

After the Christchurch mosque shootings in March 2019, users of r/The_Donald posted messages to the subreddit that justified the shooting and violence against Muslims. In response, a Reddit spokesperson stated that Reddit had strengthened its hate speech and violence policies over the last several years.{{Cite web |last=Brel |first=Ali |date=March 21, 2019 |title=Anti-Muslim hate has been rampant on Reddit since the New Zealand shooting |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/reddit-new-zealand-shooting-islamophobia/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420135756/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/reddit-new-zealand-shooting-islamophobia/ |archive-date=April 20, 2019 |access-date=March 23, 2019 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}} When asked about users from r/The_Donald posting in the r/newzealand subreddit after the attack, the moderators of r/newzealand noted that the users often employ dog-whistle verbiage, making it difficult to discern which content posted should have action taken against it.{{Cite web|url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/22-03-2019/what-it-was-like-to-be-a-nz-moderator-on-reddit-during-the-christchurch-shootings/|title=What it was like to be a NZ moderator on Reddit during the Christchurch shootings|last=Rowe|first=Don|date=March 22, 2019|website=The Spinoff|access-date=March 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323212200/https://thespinoff.co.nz/media/22-03-2019/what-it-was-like-to-be-a-nz-moderator-on-reddit-during-the-christchurch-shootings/|archive-date=March 23, 2019|url-status=live}}

On June 26, 2019, the subreddit was quarantined by Reddit admins due to excessive reports, threatening public figures associated with the 2019 Oregon Senate Republican walkouts, and an over-reliance on the site admins to personally moderate the subreddit.{{cite web |last=Robertson |first=Adi |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/26/18759967/reddit-quarantines-the-donald-trump-subreddit-misbehavior-violence-police-oregon |title=Reddit quarantines Trump subreddit r/The_Donald for violent comments |publisher=The Verge |date=June 26, 2019 |access-date=June 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626195922/https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/26/18759967/reddit-quarantines-the-donald-trump-subreddit-misbehavior-violence-police-oregon |archive-date=June 26, 2019 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Chokshi |first1=Niraj |last2=Vigdor |first2=Neil |date=June 26, 2019 |title=Reddit Restricts Pro-Trump Forum Because of Threats |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/us/politics/reddit-donald-trump-quarantined.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626183924/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/26/us/politics/reddit-donald-trump-quarantined.html |archive-date=June 26, 2019 |access-date=June 26, 2019 |website=The New York Times}} The quarantine added a warning portal, removed revenue opportunities, removed the subreddit from feeds and search, and removed custom CSS styling.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48783866|title=Reddit places pro-Donald-Trump forum in quarantine|date=June 27, 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=June 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630000313/https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-48783866|archive-date=June 30, 2019|url-status=live}}

In November 2019, the subreddit's moderators attempted to evade Reddit's imposed quarantine by reviving and promoting a subreddit called r/Mr_Trump. This subreddit was banned by Reddit's administrators in accordance with its policy that "attempting to evade bans or other restrictions imposed on communities is not allowed on Reddit".{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reddit-r-the_donald-quarantine-mr-trump/|title=Why is Reddit allowing a more extreme version of r/The_Donald to be revived? (updated)|last=Thalen|first=Mikael|date=November 15, 2019|website=The Daily Dot|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116064348/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reddit-r-the_donald-quarantine-mr-trump/|archive-date=November 16, 2019|access-date=November 16, 2019}} Days later, Reddit's admins warned the subreddit's moderators about trying to out the alleged White House whistleblower in the Trump–Ukraine scandal in violation of Reddit's rules on harassment and inviting vigilantism.{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reddit-warns-the-donald-over-whistleblower/|title=Reddit wants to stop its pro-Trump forum from outing the alleged whistleblower|last=Thalen|first=Mikael|date=November 19, 2019|website=The Daily Dot|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120050742/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reddit-warns-the-donald-over-whistleblower/|archive-date=November 20, 2019|access-date=November 19, 2019}}{{Cite news |last=O'Sullivan |first=Donie |date=November 20, 2019 |title=Reddit warns Trump supporters against 'systematic harassment' of potential whistleblower |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/20/tech/reddit-trump-whistleblower/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=November 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120204126/https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/20/tech/reddit-trump-whistleblower/index.html |archive-date=November 20, 2019}}

On February 26, 2020, Reddit administrators removed a number of r/The_Donald moderators "that were approving, stickying, and generally supporting content in this subreddit that breaks [Reddit's] content policy" and called the remaining moderators to choose new ones from a list of Reddit-approved individuals.{{Cite web|title=Apply here to become a mod of the_donald : The_Donald|url=https://www.reddit.com/r/The_Donald/comments/f9x6ud/apply_here_to_become_a_mod_of_the_donald/|date=February 26, 2020|website=r/The_Donald}} About the same time, Reddit placed r/The_Donald in "Restricted mode", removing the ability to create new posts from most of its users.{{cite news |last1=Timberg |first1=Craig |last2=Dwoskin |first2=Elizabeth |date=June 29, 2020 |title=Reddit closes long-running forum supporting President Trump after years of policy violations |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/29/reddit-closes-long-running-forum-supporting-president-trump-after-years-policy-violations/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=June 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206211406/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/29/reddit-closes-long-running-forum-supporting-president-trump-after-years-policy-violations/ |archive-date=6 February 2023}}

On June 29, 2020, in a flurry of bans, Reddit banned r/The_Donald, along with 2,000 other subreddits (such as r/ChapoTrapHouse, a leftist subreddit based on the podcast of the same name, and r/GenderCritical) deemed to be against their policies.{{Cite web|last=Newton|first=Casey|date=June 29, 2020|title=Reddit bans r/The_Donald and r/ChapoTrapHouse as part of a major expansion of its rules|url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/29/21304947/reddit-ban-subreddits-the-donald-chapo-trap-house-new-content-policy-rules|access-date=June 29, 2020|work=The Verge}}{{Cite web|last=Tiffany|first=Kaitlyn|date=June 29, 2020|title=Reddit Is Done Pretending The Donald Is Fine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/06/reddit-ban-the-donald-chapo-content-policy/613639/|access-date=June 29, 2020|work=The Atlantic}}{{Cite news |last=Isaac |first=Mike |date=June 29, 2020 |title=Reddit, Acting Against Hate Speech, Bans 'The_Donald' Subreddit |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/technology/reddit-hate-speech.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=June 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123201129/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/technology/reddit-hate-speech.html |archive-date=23 January 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} r/The_Donald was largely inactive by the time it had closed due to many users flocking to a new site, theDonald.win.

A quantitative analysis found that r/The_Donald was an important influencer of news content on Twitter. The board contributed 2.97% of mainstream news links and 2.72% of alternative news links on Twitter, as a fraction of all links co-appearing on Twitter, Reddit, and 4chan. The researchers concluded that "'fringe' communities often succeed in spreading alternative news to mainstream social networks." Additionally, they calculated that r/The_Donald hosted 35.37% of URLs from 54 alternative news sites, such as Infowars, on Reddit.{{Cite conference|last1=Zannettou|first1=Savvas|last2=Caulfield|first2=Tristan|last3=De Cristofaro|first3=Emiliano|last4=Kourtelris|first4=Nicolas|last5=Leontiadis|first5=Ilias|last6=Sirivianos|first6=Michael|last7=Stringhini|first7=Gianluca|last8=Blackburn|first8=Jeremy|date=2017|title=The web centipede: understanding how web communities influence each other through the lens of mainstream and alternative news sources|publisher=ACM|pages=405–417|isbn=978-1-4503-5118-8|book-title=Proceedings of the 2017 Internet Measurement Conference}}{{Cite book |last1=Zannettou |first1=Savvas |last2=Caulfield |first2=Tristan |last3=De Cristofaro |first3=Emiliano |last4=Kourtellis |first4=Nicolas |last5=Leontiadis |first5=Ilias |last6=Sirivianos |first6=Michael |last7=Stringhini |first7=Gianluca |last8=Blackburn |first8=Jeremy |title=Proceedings of the 2017 Internet Measurement Conference |chapter=The web centipede |date=2017 |pages=405–417 |arxiv=1705.06947v2 |doi=10.1145/3131365.3131390 |isbn=978-1-4503-5118-8 |oclc=1106264971 |s2cid=992042}}

The Trump campaign's digital director, Brad Parscale, stated in June 2016 that he visited the subreddit daily.{{cite news |last1=Collins |first1=Ben |last2=Judy |first2=Ken |title=Analysis: Woman-Haters and Pickup Artists Love Trump on Reddit |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/08/proof-that-reddit-s-woman-haters-love-donald-trump.html |website=The Daily Beast |access-date=December 28, 2016 |date=November 8, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228195211/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/08/proof-that-reddit-s-woman-haters-love-donald-trump.html |archive-date=December 28, 2016 }} Throughout the election, members in Trump's war room at Trump Tower monitored the subreddit to see new trends.{{cite news|last1=Schreckinger|first1=Ben|title=World War Meme|url=http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/memes-4chan-trump-supporters-trolls-internet-214856|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=Politico Magazine|date=March–April 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519150900/http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/memes-4chan-trump-supporters-trolls-internet-214856|archive-date=May 19, 2017}} During the 2016 Democratic National Convention on July 27, 2016, Trump hosted an AMA on the subreddit.{{cite news|last1=King|first1=Hope|title=Donald Trump will host Reddit AMA|url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/07/25/technology/trump-reddit-ama/|access-date=November 24, 2016|work=CNNMoney|date=July 25, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116130225/http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/25/technology/trump-reddit-ama/|archive-date=November 16, 2016}} Moderators of the subreddit stated that they banned more than 2,000 accounts during Trump's AMA session.{{cite web|last1=Conditt|first1=Jessica|title=Moderators banned 2,200 accounts during Donald Trump's AMA|date=July 28, 2016 |url=https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/28/donald-trump-reddit-ama-censorship/|publisher=Engadget|access-date=August 2, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729154630/https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/28/donald-trump-reddit-ama-censorship/|archive-date=July 29, 2016}} Trump also posted several pre-debate messages on the subreddit.{{cite news|last1=Powell|first1=Austin|title=Trump Posts to Reddit, Prompting Massive Rigging of Online Debate Polls|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/trump-vote-rigging-reddit/|access-date=October 8, 2017|work=The Daily Dot|date=October 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008130344/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/trump-vote-rigging-reddit/|archive-date=October 8, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Sankin|first1=Aaron|title=Reddit Explodes After Trump Posts Pregame Debate Message|url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/trump-third-debate-reddit-post/|access-date=October 8, 2017|work=The Daily Dot|date=October 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008130055/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/trump-third-debate-reddit-post/|archive-date=October 8, 2017|url-status=live}}

Throughout Trump's 2016 campaign, as well as the beginning of Trump's presidency, journalists noted that several of Trump's tweets contained images that originally appeared on the subreddit.{{cite news|last1=Graham|first1=David A.|title=Why Trump Keeps Returning to Reddit|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/trump-reddit-cnn-wrestling/532563/|access-date=July 4, 2017|work=The Atlantic|date=July 3, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703192502/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/trump-reddit-cnn-wrestling/532563/|archive-date=July 3, 2017}} On July 6, 2016, in response to his deleted tweet containing the Star of David, Trump accused Disney of antisemitism on Twitter, which was accompanied with a photo of a sticker book based on the Disney film Frozen. Justin Miller of The Daily Beast noted that the image Trump used in his tweet originated on the subreddit less than 24 hours before.{{cite news|last1=Dennis|first1=Catrina|title=Trump's Star of David "Frozen" Defense Was Stolen from a Reddit Post|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/17964-donald-trump-blames-frozen-for-his-racism|access-date=July 18, 2017|work=Inverse|date=July 7, 2016|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706073505/https://www.inverse.com/article/17964-donald-trump-blames-frozen-for-his-racism|archive-date=July 6, 2017}} Similarly, on March 3, 2017, Trump tweeted an image of Chuck Schumer posing with Vladimir Putin to allege hypocrisy. According to BuzzFeed News, the image was posted less than 24 hours earlier on the subreddit.{{cite news|last1=Warzel|first1=Charlie|title=From Reddit To Trump's Twitter — In Less Than 24 Hours|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/from-reddit-to-trumps-twitter-in-less-than-24-hours|access-date=September 2, 2021|work=BuzzFeed News|date=March 3, 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209212602/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/from-reddit-to-trumps-twitter-in-less-than-24-hours|archive-date=December 9, 2018}} On May 11, 2017, after firing James Comey, Trump responded to Rosie O'Donnell's 2016 tweet calling Comey to be fired with "We finally agree on something Rosie." Brandon Wall, a reporter for Buzzfeed News, alleged that Trump browsed r/The_Donald because O'Donnell's tweet was posted on the subreddit 20 minutes before Trump's response.{{cite news|last1=Cameron|first1=Dell|title=Rosie O'Donnell Says A Former FBI Agent Changed Her Mind About James Comey|url=https://gizmodo.com/rosie-odonnell-says-a-former-fbi-agent-changed-her-mind-1795145204|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=Gizmodo|date=May 11, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517042201/http://gizmodo.com/rosie-odonnell-says-a-former-fbi-agent-changed-her-mind-1795145204|archive-date=May 17, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=LaFrance|first1=Adrienne|title=Is Donald Trump a Secret Redditor?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/05/is-donald-trump-reading-reddit/526425/|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=The Atlantic|date=May 11, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518043931/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/05/is-donald-trump-reading-reddit/526425/|archive-date=May 18, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Kircher|first1=Madison Malone|title=Is Donald Trump Getting His News From Reddit?|url=https://nymag.com/selectall/2017/05/trump-finds-old-rosie-odonnell-tweet-about-comey-on-reddit.html|access-date=May 17, 2017|work=Select All|date=May 11, 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515010650/http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/05/trump-finds-old-rosie-odonnell-tweet-about-comey-on-reddit.html|archive-date=May 15, 2017}} Although The Washington Post acknowledged that Trump tweeted images previously viral on the subreddit, they also noted that O'Donnell's tweet did not go viral until Trump responded.{{cite news|last1=Ohlheiser|first1=Abby|title=Welp, Trump just dunked on Rosie O'Donnell on Twitter|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/05/11/welp-trump-just-dunked-on-rosie-odonnell-on-twitter/|access-date=May 17, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 11, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170516231147/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/05/11/welp-trump-just-dunked-on-rosie-odonnell-on-twitter/|archive-date=May 16, 2017}} In July 2017, a video tweeted out by Trump was noted to have appeared on the subreddit about four days earlier. However, the White House denied that the video directly came from Reddit. In May 2019, Politico reported that Trump's social media manager, Dan Scavino, frequented the subreddit, writing that he "has helped craft some of Trump's most memorable social media moments".{{cite news |last1=Restuccia |first1=Andrew |last2=Lippman |first2=Daniel |last3=Johnson |first3=Eliana |title='Get Scavino in here': Trump's Twitter guru is the ultimate insider |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/16/trump-scavino-1327921 |access-date=May 17, 2019 |work=Politico|date=May 16, 2019 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517021952/https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/16/trump-scavino-1327921 |archive-date=May 17, 2019 |url-status=live }}

Through the use of "sticky posts", a moderation function of Reddit that allows selected posts to be placed on top of all other posts on the subreddit, the moderators of the forum were "gaming" the algorithms{{Cite news|last1=Koebler|first1=Jason|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/one-of-reddits-top-posts-is-a-bunch-of-swastikas-again/|title=One of Reddit's Top Posts Is a Bunch of Swastikas, Again|newspaper=Motherboard|language=en-us|access-date=January 2, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102173425/http://motherboard.vice.com/read/one-of-reddits-top-posts-is-a-bunch-of-swastikas-again|archive-date=January 2, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Matsakis|first1=Louise|title=Reddit's Theorists Give Up Trying to Explain Donald Trump's Reddit Takeover|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/analysts-decide-donald-trumps-reddit-reign-isnt-worth-trying-to-comprehend/|access-date=September 28, 2017|work=Motherboard|date=May 5, 2016|language=en-us|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119142359/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/53ddmz/analysts-decide-donald-trumps-reddit-reign-isnt-worth-trying-to-comprehend|archive-date=November 19, 2017|url-status=live}} in order to dominate the content on the r/all page, which is a representation of the most popular content on the website. Additionally, users were often apt to flood the website with waves of identical images or posts, a direct violation of site-wide policies regarding spam. In response, Huffman rolled out a change to the r/all algorithm; he noted that r/The_Donald was among several Reddit communities over the years that "attempt to dominate the conversation on Reddit at the expense of everyone else".{{cite news |last=Swenson |first=Kyle |date=March 19, 2018 |title=In this corner of Reddit, Mueller is Yoda, Gandalf and Batman combined |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/19/from-yoda-to-gandalf-mueller-super-fans-now-have-place-to-swap-memes/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=June 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803044113/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/19/from-yoda-to-gandalf-mueller-super-fans-now-have-place-to-swap-memes/ |archive-date=August 3, 2019}} Ongoing problems with members of the subreddit brigading and harassing other subreddits forced Reddit staff to modify the site's software algorithms to limit the offending posts to the subreddit. The Reddit team introduced r/popular to replace r/all, which included the most popular subreddits except for The_Donald, and as a result, the subreddit could no longer reach the front page.{{cite web|last1=Griffin|first1=Andrew|title=The Reddit front page just changed. And it's hugely controversial|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/reddit-front-page-changed-donald-trump-all-most-popular-subreddit-news-political-a7583061.html|website=The Independent|access-date=February 16, 2017|date=February 16, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216151240/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/reddit-front-page-changed-donald-trump-all-most-popular-subreddit-news-political-a7583061.html|archive-date=February 16, 2017}} In February 2017, Reddit overhauled their algorithms even further to prevent content from the subreddit (among other communities) from ever being seen by logged out users or people who do not have a Reddit account.

In the late 2010s, the subreddit was ranked as one of the most active communities on Reddit. In a 2018 study by University College London, r/The_Donald was the most active subreddit when it comes to posting memes. The study explained that "Reddit users are more interested in politics-related memes than other type of memes."{{cite news |last1=Cole |first1=Samantha |title=Researchers Studied 160 Million Memes and Found Most of Them Come From Two Websites |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/where-do-memes-come-from-researchers-studied-reddit-4chan/ |access-date=June 23, 2018 |work=Motherboard |date=June 12, 2018 |language=en-us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623221937/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zm884j/where-do-memes-come-from-researchers-studied-reddit-4chan |archive-date=June 23, 2018 |url-status=live }}

The subreddit received additional coverage on November 24, 2016, when Reddit CEO Steve Huffman admitted to editing r/The_Donald users' comments that were critical of him, in response to harassment{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Nicole |date=November 24, 2016 |title=Reddit CEO confesses to editing comments that insulted him |url=https://www.engadget.com/2016-11-24-reddit-ceo-confesses-to-editing-comments-that-insulted-him.html |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=Engadget |language=en-US}} by the community.{{cite news |last1=Weingerger |first1=Matt |date=November 24, 2016 |title=The CEO of Reddit confessed to modifying posts from Trump supporters after they wouldn't stop sending him expletives |publisher=Business Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-modifies-donald-trump-the-donald-2016-11 |url-status=live |access-date=November 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124053421/http://www.businessinsider.com/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-modifies-donald-trump-the-donald-2016-11 |archive-date=November 24, 2016}} On November 30, 2016, Huffman announced that sticky threads from r/The_Donald would no longer show up on r/all.{{cite web|last1=Lecher|first1=Colin|title=Reddit will punish hundreds of 'toxic users' and hide some posts from pro-Trump community|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/30/13797712/reddit-trump-the-donald-ban|publisher=The Verge|access-date=November 30, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130213105/http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/30/13797712/reddit-trump-the-donald-ban|archive-date=November 30, 2016|date=November 30, 2016}} Huffman's rules were criticized by some Redditors, including both Trump and non-Trump supporters, while others felt the sanctions did not go far enough and called upon Huffman to ban the subreddit entirely.{{cite news|last1=Lee|first1=Dave|title=Reddit Moves against 'Toxic' Trump Fans|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38165435|access-date=December 1, 2016|work=BBC News|date=November 30, 2016|quote=A subreddit ... created and used by supporters of the US President-Elect... r/The_Donald was supported by Mr Trump. During the campaign, he carried out an 'AMA' - Ask Me Anything - session with supporters.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201001207/http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38165435|archive-date=December 1, 2016}} While members of the subreddit claimed they were the victims of censorship, Huffman said the actions were about "banning behavior, not ideas".

The harassment directed at Huffman by r/The_Donald users led to changes in the manner in which Reddit deals with problematic communities and users. Since being harassed by the community, Huffman stated that Reddit is going to start actively policing problematic users: "We're taking a different strategy now. We are focusing more on, like, taking care of the individual users instead of doing it at the community level which was largely our strategy before."{{cite AV media|date=December 21, 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3QKXXr38WI|title=Reddit's Troll-in-Chief Steve Huffman - VICE News Tonight on HBO|via=YouTube |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224032235/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3QKXXr38WI|archive-date=December 24, 2016}}

In May 2019, former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao told Mother Jones that the subreddit should be banned for not following the site's rules. However, she also acknowledged that "it's hard to take down a subreddit which is driving a lot of traffic".{{cite news |last1=Breland |first1=Ali |title="They're just wrong"—Ex-Reddit CEO Ellen Pao has harsh words on Big Tech's failure to stop internet hate |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/ellen-pao-interview/ |access-date=May 27, 2019 |work=Mother Jones |date=May 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518074552/https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/05/ellen-pao-interview/ |archive-date=May 18, 2019 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Pizzagate conspiracy theory}}

A conspiracy theory involving the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton, John Podesta and the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria attracted attention on r/The_Donald. Several members of the community created the r/pizzagate subreddit which was subsequently banned by Reddit administrators for breaking site rules regarding sharing personal information of others.{{cite news|last1=Ohlheiser|first1=Abby|title=Fearing yet another witch hunt, Reddit bans 'Pizzagate'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/11/23/fearing-yet-another-witch-hunt-reddit-bans-pizzagate/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=December 31, 2016|date=November 24, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230234312/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/11/23/fearing-yet-another-witch-hunt-reddit-bans-pizzagate/|archive-date=December 30, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Kang |first=Cecilia |title=Fake News Onslaught Targets Pizzeria as Nest of Child-Trafficking |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/technology/fact-check-this-pizzeria-is-not-a-child-trafficking-site.html |work=The New York Times |date=November 21, 2016 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161208232606/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/technology/fact-check-this-pizzeria-is-not-a-child-trafficking-site.html |archive-date=December 8, 2016 }} In December 2016, the subreddit gained media attention when it linked a knee injury sustained by NBA player Andrew Bogut to the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.{{cite magazine|last1=Ducey|first1=Kevin|title=No, Andrew Bogut's knee injury is not an anti-Pizzagate conspiracy|url=https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/12/30/andrew-bogut-knee-injury-pizzagate-conspiracy-reddit|magazine=Sports Illustrated|access-date=January 5, 2017|date=December 30, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102142632/http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/12/30/andrew-bogut-knee-injury-pizzagate-conspiracy-reddit|archive-date=January 2, 2017}}

{{Further|Murder of Seth Rich}}

r/The_Donald devoted a significant number of posts to the murder of Seth Rich.{{citation|work=The Daily Dot|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reddit-the-donald-4chan-seth-rich-murder|title=Reddit and 4chan Trump supporters set out to prove Seth Rich murder conspiracy|first=David|last=Gilmour|date=May 19, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520052859/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/reddit-the-donald-4chan-seth-rich-murder/|archive-date=May 20, 2017}} In July 2017, The Economist noted that there had been over 10,000 posts dedicated to the topic. The subreddit promoted the conspiracy theory that his killing was a political assassination. Reddit users attempted to tie the homicide to the Clinton body count conspiracy theory.{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/24/15685560/seth-rich-conspiracy-theory-explained-fox-news-hannity |publisher=Vox.com |title=The bonkers Seth Rich conspiracy theory, explained |date=May 24, 2017 |first=Jeff |last=Guo}} Several members of the subreddit planned a large-scale march on Washington, D.C. later in the year. However, that march did not happen.{{cite news|last1=Whitehouse|first1=John|title=How the murder of a DNC staffer turned into a right-wing conspiracy|url=http://www.salon.com/2017/05/27/how-the-murder-of-a-dnc-staffer-turned-into-a-right-wing-conspiracy_partner/|access-date=May 27, 2017|work=Salon|date=May 27, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527110011/http://www.salon.com/2017/05/27/how-the-murder-of-a-dnc-staffer-turned-into-a-right-wing-conspiracy_partner/|archive-date=May 27, 2017}}

{{Further|CNN controversies##CNNBlackmail controversy}}

On July 2, 2017, Donald Trump tweeted a video of himself wrestling Vince McMahon with the CNN logo superimposed over McMahon's face. Multiple sources, including The New York Times, NBC News, the BBC, and The Washington Post, reported that the clip appeared on the subreddit about four days earlier.{{cite news|last1=Nakamura|first1=David|title=Trump appears to promote violence against CNN with tweet|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/07/02/trump-appears-to-promote-violence-against-cnn-with-tweet/|access-date=July 2, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 2, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702152218/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/07/02/trump-appears-to-promote-violence-against-cnn-with-tweet/|archive-date=July 2, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Silva|first1=Daniella|title=Trump tweets video of himself body slamming 'CNN'|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/president-trump-tweets-wwe-video-himself-attacking-cnn-n779031|access-date=July 2, 2017|publisher=NBC News|date=July 2, 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702162502/http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/president-trump-tweets-wwe-video-himself-attacking-cnn-n779031|archive-date=July 2, 2017}}{{cite news|title=Donald Trump posts video clip of him 'beating' CNN in wrestling|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40474118|access-date=July 2, 2017|work=BBC News|date=July 2, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704080729/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40474118|archive-date=July 4, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Grynbaum|first1=Michael M.|title=Trump Tweets a Video of Him Wrestling 'CNN' to the Ground|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/02/business/media/trump-wrestling-video-cnn-twitter.html|access-date=July 2, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=July 2, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702183957/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/02/business/media/trump-wrestling-video-cnn-twitter.html|archive-date=July 2, 2017}} However, on July 3, the White House denied that the video directly came from Reddit.{{cite news|last1=Shankar|first1=Dakshayani|title=WH says Trump didn't obtain CNN wrestling video from Reddit|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-trump-obtain-cnn-wrestling-video-reddit/story?id=48422665|access-date=July 4, 2017|publisher=ABC News|date=July 3, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704191836/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-trump-obtain-cnn-wrestling-video-reddit/story?id=48422665|archive-date=July 4, 2017}}

Additionally, The Washington Post reported that the Reddit user who posted the video, HanAssholeSolo, also wrote about stabbing Muslims{{cite news|last1=Selk|first1=Avi|title=A Reddit user who wrote about stabbing Muslims is claiming credit for Trump's CNN video|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/07/02/a-reddit-user-who-wrote-about-stabbing-muslims-is-claiming-credit-for-trumps-cnn-video/|access-date=July 3, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 2, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702232904/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/07/02/a-reddit-user-who-wrote-about-stabbing-muslims-is-claiming-credit-for-trumps-cnn-video/|archive-date=July 2, 2017}} while Vox added that the poster attempted to remove his racist comments, including many that said the word nigger and an image of Jewish CNN employees, each being labeled with a Star of David, in a post titled "Something strange about CNN...can't quite put my finger on it."{{cite news|last1=Romano|first1=Aja|title=Trump's anti-CNN tweet originated from Reddit's largest right-wing extremist forum|url=https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/7/3/15913966/trump-cnn-wrestling-tweet-the-donald-origins|access-date=July 4, 2017|work=Vox|date=July 3, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709055616/https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/7/3/15913966/trump-cnn-wrestling-tweet-the-donald-origins|archive-date=July 9, 2017}}{{Cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Allan|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/hanassholesolo-reddit-trump-cnn-wrestling-video-2017-7|title=The Reddit user taking credit for Trump's CNN body-slam video has a history of posting inflammatory comments|work=Business Insider|access-date=July 4, 2017|date=July 3, 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703223017/http://www.businessinsider.com/hanassholesolo-reddit-trump-cnn-wrestling-video-2017-7|archive-date=July 3, 2017}} Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) referred to the user as an "extremist" after analyzing his posts.{{cite news|last1=Pearce|first1=Matt|title=Once again, Trump tweets a meme linked to a brazen racist|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-trump-reddit-20170703-story.html|access-date=July 5, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 3, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704192615/http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-trump-reddit-20170703-story.html|archive-date=July 4, 2017}} The ADL also identified the user as "a parent and a veteran in his 40s living in Tennessee" based on the personal information within his post history.{{cite news|last1=D'Angelo|first1=Chris|title=Journalist Who Exposed The Racist Creator Of Trump's CNN Tweet Gets Death Threats|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jared-sexton-trump-cnn-tweet_us_595a6656e4b0da2c7324d3d6|access-date=July 5, 2017|work=HuffPost|date=July 4, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705023307/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jared-sexton-trump-cnn-tweet_us_595a6656e4b0da2c7324d3d6|archive-date=July 5, 2017}} Based on the aforementioned posts, Vox reported that some members of the forum have interpreted the tweet as support for their racist beliefs. Eventually, after being identified by CNN's Andrew Kaczynski, the user posted an apology in the subreddit on July 4.{{cite news|last1=Kaczynski|first1=Andrew|title=How CNN found the Reddit user behind the Trump wrestling GIF|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/04/politics/kfile-reddit-user-trump-tweet/index.html|access-date=July 5, 2017|publisher=CNN|date=July 4, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705012924/http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/04/politics/kfile-reddit-user-trump-tweet/index.html|archive-date=July 5, 2017}} Immediately afterwards, his apology was locked and deleted by the subreddit's moderators{{cite news|last1=Berke|first1=Jeremy|title='I am in no way this kind of person': Reddit user who created Trump's CNN body-slam meme apologizes for his racist and anti-Semitic posts|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-reddit-hanassholesolo-racist-anti-semitic-cnn-meme-tweet-2017-7|access-date=July 5, 2017|work=Business Insider|date=July 4, 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705024154/http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-reddit-hanassholesolo-racist-anti-semitic-cnn-meme-tweet-2017-7|archive-date=July 5, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Mack|first1=David|title=The Reddit User Who Made The Trump/CNN Wrestling Video Has Posted An Apology|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/hanassholesolo|access-date=September 2, 2021|work=BuzzFeed News|date=July 4, 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920122706/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/hanassholesolo|archive-date=September 20, 2018}} while the user deleted his Reddit account.{{cite news|last1=Kostarelis|first1=Stefan|title=Redditor who created THAT Trump vs CNN video apologises and deletes his account|url=https://www.techly.com.au/2017/07/05/redditor-that-made-the-trump-vs-cnn-video-apologises-and-deletes-his-account/|access-date=July 5, 2017|work=Techly|date=July 5, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705011807/https://www.techly.com.au/2017/07/05/redditor-that-made-the-trump-vs-cnn-video-apologises-and-deletes-his-account/|archive-date=July 5, 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Ferreras|first1=Jesse|title=Reddit user who took credit for Trump GIF apologizes, account deleted after CNN finds him|url=http://globalnews.ca/news/3575504/reddit-trump-gif-cnn-apology/|access-date=July 5, 2017|work=Global News|date=July 5, 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705062536/http://globalnews.ca/news/3575504/reddit-trump-gif-cnn-apology/|archive-date=July 5, 2017}} CNN was accused by Julian Assange, Jack Posobiec, and Mark Dice of blackmailing the user, while the hashtag, #CNNBlackmail, trended on Twitter.{{cite news|last1=Bell|first1=Chris|title=CNN accused of 'blackmailing' Trump gif maker|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-40504203|access-date=July 5, 2017|work=BBC News|date=July 5, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706003407/http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-40504203|archive-date=July 6, 2017}} Kaczynski responded by stating that his line was "misinterpreted" and that the user said that he was not threatened prior to his apology.{{cite news|last1=Irby|first1=Kate|title=CNN identified the creator of the Trump wrestling gif. Now it's accused of blackmail.|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article159650689.html|access-date=July 5, 2017|work=Miami Herald|date=July 5, 2017|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706020023/http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article159650689.html|archive-date=July 6, 2017}} In response to the controversy, ShadowMan3001, one of the moderators of the subreddit, told Kevin Roose of The New York Times that CNN's intent in possibly releasing the user's identity was "a glaring example of their absolute lack of not only journalistic integrity, but basic morality".{{cite news|last1=Roose|first1=Kevin|title=How a CNN Investigation Set Off an Internet Meme War|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/business/how-a-cnn-investigation-set-off-an-internet-meme-war.html|access-date=July 6, 2017|work=The New York Times|date=July 5, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706034613/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/business/how-a-cnn-investigation-set-off-an-internet-meme-war.html|archive-date=July 6, 2017}}

In March 2018, The Daily Beast obtained documents from the Russian-backed online "troll farm" Internet Research Agency that confirmed that the organization deployed its agitators on subreddits including r/The_Donald and r/HillaryForPrison in the run-up to the 2016 election.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-used-reddit-and-tumblr-to-troll-the-2016-election|title=Russians Used Reddit and Tumblr to Troll the 2016 Election|last=Russell|first=Ben Collins{{!}}Josh|date=March 2, 2018|work=The Daily Beast|access-date=March 6, 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306144050/https://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-used-reddit-and-tumblr-to-troll-the-2016-election|archive-date=March 6, 2018|url-status=live}} During that same month, congressional investigators revealed that they plan to question Reddit and Tumblr as part of their investigation into the Russian interference surrounding the 2016 U.S. presidential election with Representative Adam Schiff urging Reddit and other major online platforms to make more data available about the extent of Russia's online propaganda efforts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/03/05/senate-investigators-want-answers-from-reddit-and-tumblr-on-russia-meddling/|title=Senate investigators want answers from Reddit and Tumblr on Russia meddling|last=Romm|first=Tony|date=March 5, 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=March 6, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306035937/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/03/05/senate-investigators-want-answers-from-reddit-and-tumblr-on-russia-meddling/|archive-date=March 6, 2018|url-status=live}} Huffman later admitted that Reddit was aware that the site was a target of Russian propagandists, and users of the website criticized Reddit for concealing Russian activity on the website and for not working fast enough to ban extremist communities. When asked why the r/The_Donald community was not banned from the website, Huffman replied that "Banning them probably won't accomplish what you want. However, letting them fall apart from their own dysfunction probably will."{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/reddit-rises-up-against-ceo-for-hiding-russian-trolls|title=Reddit Rises Up Against CEO for Hiding Russian Trolls|last=Collins|first=Ben|date=March 6, 2018|work=The Daily Beast|access-date=March 6, 2018|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306010429/https://www.thedailybeast.com/reddit-rises-up-against-ceo-for-hiding-russian-trolls|archive-date=March 6, 2018|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Remove Kebab}}

The slogan "Remove Kebab" has appeared on r/The_Donald in threads that have calls for violence and open hatred directed toward Muslims. As a meme "Remove Kebab", based on the music video called "Serbia Strong" by a group of soldiers celebrating the Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadžić has appeared in over 800 threads on the r/The_Donald. The band's accordion player Novislav Đajić, convicted in 1997 of crimes during the Yugoslav wars, features in meme images and is known as "Dat Face Soldier".{{cite journal |last1=Ward |first1=Justin |title=Day of the trope: White nationalist memes thrive on Reddit's r/The_Donald |journal=Hatewatch |date=April 19, 2018 |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/04/19/day-trope-white-nationalist-memes-thrive-reddits-rthedonald |access-date=March 24, 2019 |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201162606/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/04/19/day-trope-white-nationalist-memes-thrive-reddits-rthedonald |archive-date=February 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}

The subreddit was criticized by Vice, which stated in an article that the subreddit was "authoritarian", "racist", "misogynistic", "homophobic", "Islamophobic", and has a "hypocritical 'free speech' rallying point". The publication Slate described r/The_Donald as a "hate speech forum"{{cite news|last1=Mathis-Lilley|first1=Ben|title=Meanwhile, Donald Trump Did a Q&A Wednesday Night on a Hate Speech Forum|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/07/28/how_donald_trump_s_reddit_ama_rewarded_hateful_trolls.html|access-date=December 6, 2016|work=Slate|date=July 28, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206085558/http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/07/28/how_donald_trump_s_reddit_ama_rewarded_hateful_trolls.html|archive-date=December 6, 2016}} and The Verge has described it as a "notoriously fetid troll swamp".{{cite web|last1=Kaitlyn|first1=Tiffany|title=The ultimate conspiracy: a conspiracy against Reddit's conspiracy community?|url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/11/14238636/reddit-conspiracy-theory-trump-pee-gate|website=The Verge|access-date=January 12, 2017|date=January 11, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111210914/http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/11/14238636/reddit-conspiracy-theory-trump-pee-gate|archive-date=January 11, 2017}} According to The New York Times, "[m]embers respond to accusations of bigotry with defiant claims of persecution at the hands of critics. It is an article of faith among posters that anti-racists are the real bigots, feminists are the actual sexists, and progressive politics are, in effect, regressive." The subreddit also spread fake news and promoted conspiracy theories{{cite news |last1=Ohlheiser |first1=Abby |last2=Tsukayama |first2=Hayley |date=November 26, 2016 |title=Reddit's CEO regrets trolling Trump supporters by secretly editing their posts |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/11/26/reddits-ceo-regrets-trolling-trump-supporters-by-secretly-editing-their-posts/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=December 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206020038/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/11/26/reddits-ceo-regrets-trolling-trump-supporters-by-secretly-editing-their-posts/ |archive-date=December 6, 2016}} such as "Pizzagate".{{cite news |last1=Yeung |first1=Ken |date=November 23, 2016 |title=Reddit CEO apologizes for editing comments critical of him following Pizzagate ban |publisher=VentureBeat |url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/11/23/reddit-ceo-apologizes-for-editing-comments-critical-of-him-following-pizzagate-ban/ |url-status=live |access-date=November 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124161742/http://venturebeat.com/2016/11/23/reddit-ceo-apologizes-for-editing-comments-critical-of-him-following-pizzagate-ban/ |archive-date=November 24, 2016}} In February 2017, Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab analyzed how the subreddit was able to spread fake news throughout similar subreddits and conspiracy sites.{{cite news|last1=Nimmo|first1=Ben|title=Spread it on Reddit|url=https://medium.com/@DFRLab/spread-it-on-reddit-3170a463e787|access-date=February 10, 2017|work=Medium|date=February 9, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170210124513/https://medium.com/%40DFRLab/spread-it-on-reddit-3170a463e787|archive-date=February 10, 2017}} The subreddit is also connected to the alt-right{{cite news|last1=Sarlin|first1=Benjy|title=5 Things to Know About the 'Alt-Right'|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/hillary-clinton-delivering-speech-alt-right-what-s-n637701|access-date=December 6, 2016|publisher=NBC News|date=August 25, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205205514/http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/hillary-clinton-delivering-speech-alt-right-what-s-n637701|archive-date=December 5, 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Woolf|first1=Nicky|title=Donald Trump's 'alt-right' supporters express dismay at disavowal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/22/alt-right-supporters-donald-trump-backlash-disavow-reddit-4chan|website=The Guardian|access-date=December 20, 2016|date=November 23, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161216153250/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/22/alt-right-supporters-donald-trump-backlash-disavow-reddit-4chan|archive-date=December 16, 2016}} while an article by The Washington Post connected the moderators of closely related Trump subreddits to racist subreddits such as "r/Quranimals" and "r/Rapefugees".{{cite news|last1=Dewey|first1=Caitlin|title=The people running this Trump fan club also promote eugenics and call Muslims 'animals'|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/07/20/the-people-running-reddits-largest-trump-club-also-promote-eugenics-and-call-muslims-animals/|access-date=January 11, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=July 20, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113164048/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/07/20/the-people-running-reddits-largest-trump-club-also-promote-eugenics-and-call-muslims-animals/|archive-date=January 13, 2017}} One moderator banned users for reporting Islamophobia to the subreddit, saying, "Jesus Christ people, stop reporting Islamophobia. We don't fucking care about our 'Islamophobia problem' AT ALL!"{{cite news|last1=Warzel|first1=Charlie|title=Here's How That Donald Trump Reddit AMA Came Together|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/heres-how-that-donald-trump-ama-came-together|access-date=September 2, 2021|work=BuzzFeed News|date=July 25, 2016|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209212955/https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/heres-how-that-donald-trump-ama-came-together|archive-date=December 9, 2018|url-status=live}} The National Memo noted that "moderators have made the occasional attempt to rid r/The_Donald of overt racism and anti-Semitism"{{cite news|last1=Gais|first1=Hannah|title=Sump Trump: Looking For Votes In Reddit's Basement|url=http://www.nationalmemo.com/sump-trump-looking-votes-reddits-basement/|access-date=January 11, 2017|work=The National Memo|date=July 29, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113105952/http://www.nationalmemo.com/sump-trump-looking-votes-reddits-basement/|archive-date=January 13, 2017}} and The Economist emphasized that the moderators "at least try" to remove anti-semitism from the subreddit.

Motherboard interviewed a moderator of the subreddit, who said "[t]he people from /pol/ who can behave, which is probably most of them, stay. The people who don't behave usually wind up getting banned for rule 3 [the community's "no racism" rule]." The New York Times also noted that, in addition to the subreddit's "no racism/anti-Semitism" policy, the subreddit also warns against "dissenters or SJWs" posting on there and that "concern trolling" is also banned. Gizmodo commented that the subreddit "revealed how easy the site's ageing algorithm is to game," comparing their actions to the profitability of fake news posted on Facebook.{{cite news|last1=Menegus|first1=Bryan|title=Why Trolls Won In 2016|url=http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/01/why-trolls-won-in-2016/|work=Gizmodo|access-date=January 2, 2017|date=January 1, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101195228/http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/01/why-trolls-won-in-2016/|archive-date=January 1, 2017}} Gizmodo also referred the subreddit as "Trump supporters' de facto base of power on Reddit". Politico described the subreddit as "a message board that acted as a conduit between 4chan and the mainstream Web".

In February 2017, after Kellyanne Conway brought up the false Bowling Green massacre, SFGate noted that the subreddit's response to the incident was "varied – and rather muted". Some users shared the video uncritically while others thought that the incident was an intentional part of a larger strategy by the Trump administration.{{Cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Analysis-What-came-after-Conway-s-Bowling-Green-10905848.php |title=Analysis: What came after Conway's 'Bowling Green massacre' statement |last=Bump |first=Philip |date=February 3, 2017 |work=San Francisco Chronicle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203163005/http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Analysis-What-came-after-Conway-s-Bowling-Green-10905848.php |archive-date=February 3, 2017 |url-status=live |access-date=February 3, 2017 }} Similarly, in May 2017, users on the subreddit began reposting memes pertaining to the murder of Seth Rich that occurred in Washington, D.C. It was later reported by Gizmodo that, at one point, 20 of the top 26 posts on the subreddit pertained to the Seth Rich murder.{{cite news|last1=Menegus|first1=Bryan|title=Sean Hannity Tweets Out Ludicrous Seth Rich Conspiracy From Kim Dotcom [Updated]|url=https://gizmodo.com/sean-hannity-tweets-out-ludicrous-seth-rich-conspiracy-1795481166|access-date=May 25, 2017|work=Gizmodo|date=May 23, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525094818/http://gizmodo.com/sean-hannity-tweets-out-ludicrous-seth-rich-conspiracy-1795481166|archive-date=May 25, 2017}} In the aftermath of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, members of the subreddit initially thought that the suspect in the incident was Muslim and wrote comments about banning Muslims and refugees. After the identity of the shooter was revealed, the members saw the shooting as a "false flag" and posted various conspiracy theories.{{cite news|last1=Wyrich|first1=Andrew|title=How Trump's biggest fans responded before and after learning the Las Vegas shooter was white|url=https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/las-vegas-false-flag-reddit-the_donald/|access-date=October 8, 2017|work=The Daily Dot|date=October 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008080217/https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/las-vegas-false-flag-reddit-the_donald/|archive-date=October 8, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Kostarelis|first1=Stefan|title=Trump supporters learn Vegas shooter was white... proceed to lose their minds|url=https://www.techly.com.au/2017/10/04/trumps-worst-supporters-before-and-after-learning-the-las-vegas-shooter-was-white/|access-date=October 8, 2017|work=Techly|date=October 4, 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171008080556/https://www.techly.com.au/2017/10/04/trumps-worst-supporters-before-and-after-learning-the-las-vegas-shooter-was-white/|archive-date=October 8, 2017|url-status=dead}} Using latent semantic analysis, FiveThirtyEight analyzed the relationship between the r/The_Donald and 50,323 other active subreddits based on 1.4 billion comments made over a two-year period from 2015 to 2016, and found the community was related to a number of "hate-based subreddits", such as the respectively banned r/fatpeoplehate and r/coontown.

In October 2019, U.S. House Representative Jim Banks criticized Reddit's decision to quarantine the subreddit, calling it "a recent and egregious example of social media sites meddling in political affairs."{{Cite web|last=Banks|first=Jim|date=2019-10-31|title=Reddit Must End Politically Motivated Publishing Decisions|url=https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/10/31/reddit_must_end_politically_motivated_publishing_decisions_141623.html|access-date=2021-10-22|website=RealClearPolitics}}

== {{anchor|TheDonald.win}}Patriots.win ==

Patriots.win, formerly TheDonald.win, is an independent far-right Internet forum created as a successor to r/The_Donald, similarly based around support of former President Trump.{{cite news|last=Venkataramakrishnan|first=Siddharth|date=August 11, 2020|title=Far-right finds new online home in TheDonald.win|url=https://www.ft.com/content/23f4d7fe-a478-410d-9d03-d5526b6753d1|access-date=August 11, 2020|website=Financial Times}} {{subscription required|s}}{{cite web|last=Fischer|first=Sare|date=November 26, 2019|title=The next pro-Trump social media network|url=https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-social-network-reddit-censorship-e0f38e5c-f911-4a24-9552-3afb0f56e4e4.html|access-date=August 12, 2020|website=Axios}}{{Cite web |last=Goforth |first=Claire |date=2021-01-21 |title=Notorious pro-Trump forum rebrands as 'Patriots' after post-Capitol riot infighting |url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/pro-trump-site-renamed-internal-conflict/ |access-date=2021-01-22 |website=The Daily Dot |language=en-US}} The website has been labelled "a magnet for extreme discourse" by the Financial Times. It has been likened to Gab and 8kun, as those sites were also created to bypass hate speech policies on more mainstream sites.

The website was created on November 21, 2019, by moderators of r/The_Donald. After Reddit quarantined r/The_Donald, moderators of the subreddit promoted TheDonald.win through the use of sticky posts, touting the site as a backup to the subreddit in the event that it was banned. The site rapidly gained users as a result of the promotion. There was another surge of users to the site on June 29, 2020, when the subreddit was banned by Reddit in a purge of around 2,000 communities.{{Cite news |last=Roose |first=Kevin |date=June 30, 2020 |title=Reddit's C.E.O. on Why He Banned 'The_Donald' Subreddit |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/us/politics/reddit-bans-steve-huffman.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201184956/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/us/politics/reddit-bans-steve-huffman.html |archive-date=1 February 2023 |issn=0362-4331}} As of December 2020, TheDonald.win ranked as the 464th most visited website in the United States and 2,875th worldwide, according to Alexa Internet.{{cite web|title=thedonald.win Competitive Analysis, Marketing Mix and Traffic|url=https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thedonald.win|access-date=December 16, 2020|publisher=Alexa Internet|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308045801/https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thedonald.win|url-status=dead}}

TheDonald.win was among the platforms used to plan the 2021 United States Capitol attack.{{Cite web|last1=Lytvyenko|first1=Jane|last2=Hensley-Clancy|first2=Molly|date=January 6, 2021|title=The Rioters Who Took Over The Capitol Have Been Planning Online In The Open For Weeks|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/trump-rioters-planned-online|access-date=January 8, 2021|website=BuzzFeed News}} According to a January 16, 2021 report from The Wall Street Journal, Epik had threatened to take TheDonald.win offline over the forum failing to remove white supremacist, racist, and violent content. The Journal also reported that Jody Williams, TheDonald.win's owner, had received multiple requests from the FBI for user information due to threatening posts, and that the FBI had been informed of several users who had made threatening posts on TheDonald.win, including one post from a user threatening to kill U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Williams had struggled to moderate the forum's racist, antisemitic, and violent posts over the prior months, and some of TheDonald.win's volunteer moderators had responded by thwarting Williams's efforts to take down the violent and objectionable content on the forum. Williams and his family had also received daily death threats from the users he banned from the forum.{{Cite news|last=Talley|first=Ian|date=January 16, 2021|title=Pro-Trump Discussion Board Faces Possible Shutdown Over Violent, Racist Posts|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/pro-trump-discussion-board-faces-possible-shutdown-over-violent-racist-posts-11610819176|access-date=January 18, 2021|issn=0099-9660}}

On January 20, 2021, due to an internal power struggle over the TheDonald.win domain between the moderators and Williams, a new forum called Patriots.win was created and TheDonald.win was shut down by Williams on January 21. The moderators of Patriots.win responded by calling Williams a "sellout" who "betrayed the community … [of] hundreds of thousands of loyal patriots." {{As of|2021|1|21|df=US}}, Epik was providing services to Patriots.win.{{Cite news |last1=Timberg |first1=Craig |last2=Harwell |first2=Drew |date=2021-02-05 |title=TheDonald's owner speaks out on why he finally pulled plug on hate-filled site |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/05/why-thedonald-moderator-left/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=2021-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331233303/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/05/why-thedonald-moderator-left/ |archive-date=31 March 2023}}

In late January 2021, in response to the GameStop short squeeze being carried out by the subreddit r/wallstreetbets, Patriots.win created an unofficial backup forum of the subreddit in an attempt to gain new users.{{Cite web|last=Thalen|first=Mikael|date=2021-01-28|title=Gab and TheDonald capitalize on Reddit's Wall Street Bets frenzy to get new users|url=https://www.dailydot.com/debug/gab-thedonald-reddits-wall-street-bets-frenzy/|access-date=2021-01-29|website=The Daily Dot|language=en-US}} However, according to The Daily Dot, the majority of users on the backup forum were Trump supporters already from Patriots.win.

On August 27, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives select committee investigating the Capitol attack demanded records from Patriots.win (alongside 14 other social media companies) going back to the spring of 2020.{{Cite web|last1=Breuninger|first1=Kevin|last2=Wilkie|first2=Christina|date=2021-08-27|title=Congressional panel investigating Jan. 6 insurrection demands records from Facebook, Twitter, other tech firms|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/27/congressional-committee-investigating-jan-6-insurrection-demands-records-from-facebook-twitter-and-other-tech-giants.html|access-date=2021-08-30|website=CNBC|language=en}}

In November 2024, after Donald Trump won the 2024 United States presidential election, Wired reported that several users on the website posted images of Democratic politicians, including an AI-generated image of Nancy Pelosi with a noose on her neck.{{cite magazine |last1=Owen |first1=Tess |title=Far-Right Donald Trump Supporters Celebrate His Victory with Violent Memes and Calls for Executions |url=https://www.wired.com/story/donald-trump-far-right-supporters-violent-memes/ |access-date=November 7, 2024 |magazine=Wired |date=November 6, 2024}}

• Controversial Reddit communities
• Donald Trump on social media
• Social media in the 2016 United States presidential election

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• [https://patriots.win/ Patriots.win]

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