Mike Cernovich is an online commentator who is one of the most prominent voices of the so-called “alt-right” movement. He started the website Danger & Play to advocate the “men’s rights” movement and during the 2016 election became a supporter of Donald Trump and shouty conspiracy theorist via social media and his YouTube channel.
During the presidential campaign, Cernovich was one of the primary propagators of “Pizzagate,” a hoax circulated through social media claiming that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager John Podesta were secretly involved in a pedophile ring run out of a Washington, D.C. pizza restaurant. (It resulted in a man showing up to the restaurant with a shotgun.)
Cernovich, who doesn’t consider himself a member of the “alt-right” and prefers the term “American nationalist,” is widely reviled for expressing sexist and racist views. He frequently rails against “cucks,” the alt-right term for men who aren’t conservative enough. In his 2015 dating-tips book, “Gorilla Mindset,” he advocated that women submit to “dominant alpha males” and said that “date rape is a liberal fiction.” He has said that all immigrants should be IQ tested.
Cernovich also has a significant fan base. On Jan. 23, he attracted 700 attendees to a party he organized in New York City called “A Night for Freedom.” As other major alt-right stars have imploded — Steve Bannon fired from Breitbart and Milo Yiannopolous defunded by his powerful backers — “Vanity Fair” speculated on Jan. 24 that Cernovich has the following to fill the vacuum: “Absent Bannon and his protégé [Yiannopolous], Cernovich was the last person on the right with the influence to pull off a convocation of trolls.”
Did you really think you were going to stop me? I will out spend, out fight, and out party you. pic.twitter.com/o3H99VZwMp
— Mike Cernovich ?? (@Cernovich) January 21, 2018
Among other conspiracy theories Cernovich has circulated: He has claimed that Hillary Clinton has Parkinson’s Disease, that the Democratic Party is trying to assassinate him and that most people in the media and all A-list actors are pedophiles.
Cernovich is married to his second wife and has an infant child. He said his first marriage was “ruined by feminist indoctrination.” He was paid a seven-figure divorce settlement by his ex-wife, a Silicon Valley attorney. He currently lives in the basement of his second wife’s parents’ home.
During a Reddit AMA session on Dec. 22, 2017, Cernovich was sent questions such as, “Are you genuinely an awful person, or are you just trying to sell books?,” “I am a lifelong Republican. Do you realize that everyone who hates you isn’t necessarily a ‘libtard’ and some of us just realize you’re a conman and a huckster who lives in a basement?” and “Why did you jack off in a women’s car?”
On Dec. 29, 2017, Cernovich announced he would be retiring from social media. He reversed his decision within days after saying it had made his opponents too happy.
