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At least 90,000 people on Reddit have subscribed to a community called “The Donald,” in a group known as a subreddit. Its members post material full of slang, insults and inside jokes. Users refer to each other as “centipedes” — a reference to a series of popular videos in which Mr. Trump is compared to the creature, which is a “nimble navigator” just like the candidate himself. (Mr. Trump has shared these videos as well.) Many usernames include the letters MAGA — for Make America Great Again.
Political campaigns have become increasingly aware of Reddit, where young users rallied around Barack Obama in 2012, and, to a lesser extent, Ron Paul in 2008. “The Bernie Sanders Reddit is very much working in concert with the Sanders campaign organization,” said Micah L. Sifry, a co-founder of Personal Democracy Media, which examines the intersection of politics and technology. “The Sanders people have strategically realized this is an asset.”
“In Trump’s case, none of that support is being developed,” Mr. Sifry said. If anything, he said, “the Internet maybe shows the latent capacity of Trump supporters. They’re there, and they might be excited to be given something to do.”
Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, wrote in an email, “We are not involved with Reddit.” The “Trump Effect” video, she said, “got to us via Twitter.”
The subreddit is intentionally insular, but widely read, ranking among the most active on the site. According to Reddit’s own measurements, it produced nearly 52 million page views in March. In the same month, the largest subreddit supporting Mr. Sanders, who has visited the site to answer questions, and whose campaign maintains an active presence there, drew almost 36 million, despite having more subscribers.
In subreddits supporting other candidates, users promote favorable stories, feud with foes and rally support through phone-banking or “Facebanking” — campaigning to Facebook friends. On The Donald, the message is relentless — as are the insults. Opponents are referred to as “cucks,” which is short for “cuckservative,” as in “cuckold” — now used as a derisive term for liberals and moderate Republicans recently popularized by far-right online commentators and white nationalists, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The group shares content and tone with parts of 4chan, the infamous and anonymous message board that traffics in shock, and where Mr. Trump — who regularly scorns “political correctness” — has found substantial, if oblique, support.
Visitors to the group will find a cascade of offensive postings. Some members share open antipathy toward Muslims, sling insults with relish and mock anyone who takes umbrage.
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