“Grassroots” MAGA influencer turns out to be… the White House

Nothing confirms Trump's authentic populist uprising like a government email address.

“Independent” online Trump-diehard “Johnny MAGA” has spent years boosting Truth Social posts, owning the libs, and playing a not insignificant role in amplifying the hate over on Elon Musk’s Xitter. Wired has discovered that the account belongs to a Trump White House staffer who works on their social media rapid-response team.

The account was created in January 2021 and has often been at the front of pushing far-right, pro-Trump content. It was also active throughout the 2024 election, going after former Vice President Kamala Harris often in very personal ways.

However, underneath the surface, Johnny MAGA was anything but organic.

“Johnny MAGA appears to actually be a White House staffer named Garrett Wade who works for the Trump administration as a rapid response manager, helping to run the very same White House account his anonymous MAGA account amplifies,” said the report. “A phone number associated with Wade is linked to Johnny MAGA, according to a WIRED review of publicly available records, and the connection was confirmed by a source close to the White House.”

Wade did not reply to Wired’s request for comment.

RawStory

Nothing about this administration or its “base” can be trusted. Sock puppets are an internet tradition as reviled as trolls. But when the White House runs its own anonymous fan account while railing about media manipulation, we’ve entered a new space.

Nothing confirms Trump’s authentic populist uprising like a government email address.