Trump's CNN body-slam video appears to have gained traction from a controversial Reddit user
President Donald Trump wasn't the first to post video of him body slamming and punching CNN.
Four days ago, a controversial Reddit user "HanA--holeSolo" posted to the pro-Trump community r/The_Donald a similar edited version of a 2007 video of Trump body slamming and punching WWE CEO Vince McMahon.
In the edited video that appeared on Reddit, an image of the CNN logo was superimposed on McMahon's face to make it appear as though Trump was pummeling the news network:
The video that Trump tweeted added sound:
On Sunday morning, the Reddit user celebrated that Trump had tweeted out his meme: "Wow!! I never expected my meme to be retweeted by the God Emporer himself!!!"
Many in the subreddit, which has over 441,000 members, took it as validation that the president reads the pro-Trump community that has long promoted alt-right views attacking Islam, minorities, and immigrants. HanA--holeSolo is a frequent participant of such conversations.
In the past, r/The_Donald's have aggressively gamed Reddit's algorithms to see pro-Trump content rise to the top of the site, and have sometimes engaged in abusive behavior against the volunteer moderators and members of other communities on the site - causing significant disruption. In December, Reddit promised reforms to crack down on its most abusive members in the wake of attacks on its CEO.