The next time you see a social media post from a military veteran who claims to support banning certain firearms or any other infringement of our civil rights, realize they may be getting paid to violate their oath.
An email obtained last week by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project revealed that the “precision micro-influencer” marketing firm People First is hiring veterans to serve as paid social media influencers for the Harris-Walz campaign.
It is not hard to understand why the progressive firm wants to hire former military members. Veterans have credibility – especially when the topic is guns. Whenever the gun-ban industry convinces a vet to call for an AR ban or violate their oath in some other way, they always tout it as a win. This is why Tim Walz is so celebrated by Giffords, Brady and Everytown. Before his stolen valor was revealed, Walz cultivated the false impression that he spent most of his military career knee-deep in grenade pins.
People First has a long history of supporting the war against guns and Second Amendment Rights. They know what they’re doing, and they’re very good, unfortunately. Now, the New York City-based firm wants to recruit veterans living in seven key battleground states, but then explains in its recruitment email that they are open to hire anyone with a “compelling story,” regardless of where they live.
The Call for Veterans
Paid Social Media Opportunity for Veterans!
Phil McKnight
Hi there!
My name is Phil, and I am an Organizer at People First. I am reaching out to share an exciting partnership around veterans!
Veterans, you know better than anyone that our allegiance to this country is pledged toward the Constitution and the values that are enshrined within it – not to any particular man or woman.
We need your help explaining which values you believe our elected leaders should uphold as we approach the upcoming November election. This campaign is also open to family members of those currently or previously enlisted in any of the six US military branches.
Join this campaign now if you are located in any key battleground states:
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Michigan
- Pennsylvania
- Wisconsin
- Nevada
- North Carolina
Not from one of these states? No problem. Anyone who has a compelling story to share should apply now too.
If you are interested in participating in this opportunity, please let me know as soon as possible so we can get you started on the next steps.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best,
Phil
—
Phil McKnight
Digital Relationship Organizer
People First Marketing
CreatorNetwork.cc is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform designed specifically for People First Marketing. Our platform helps businesses and marketers to connect and collaborate with content creators in a more efficient and effective way.
The process is relatively simple, People First claims. The influencer submits draft content, which is then edited and approved. The influencer then posts it on their social media platforms, and they’re paid 10-15 days later. As a result, People First has made oath breaking easy and, unfortunately, profitable.
McKnight did not respond to emails seeking his comments for this story.
Censorship, Gun Control
People First founder and CEO Curtis Hougland rose to prominence fighting against what he told Vanity Fair magazine in 2019 was “hate speech and online extremism.”
“Democrats want to focus on facts and figures. The other side plays into fears and taps into emotions, and they show it to you. It’s all about emotional resonance,” Hougland told the magazine.
Hougland was behind the passage of Nevada’s Question 1 in 2016, which expanded background checks and ended most private gun sales.
“Across the geographic footprint of Nevada, the company credentialed and recruited 287 influencers, many of them doctors and nurses, and told them to create their own version of a messaging brief, provided to them with a company dashboard,” Vanity Fair reported.
Today, People First is working dozens of campaigns and advocacy programs, Hougland says on his LinkedIn page.
“We can source online advocates by district, religion, party, ethnicity, age, and affinity,” he wrote. “We’re 82 days away from Election Day! Enough time to execute a local or national campaign and impact elections and ballot initiatives.”
Takeaways
When you raise your right hand and swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, you don’t get to pick and choose the amendments you’re willing to support and defend. The oath has no expiration date. It doesn’t end upon retirement or ETS. Walz forgot that, sadly. Same-same for any vet who responds to People First’s siren song.
If you really want to thank a veteran for their service, hire them. They will be the best employee on your payroll, but not this. What People First is doing to our veterans is reprehensible. They’re bribing them into betraying their oaths. Rather than direct deposit, People First should pay their influencers with 30 pieces of silver.
Story courtesy of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support the project.
I am a veteran. I believe that every male in America should be issued an M4 on their 18th birthday at taxpayer expense.
Let’s give the people and the militia some real teeth.
Thank you for your service jwm. Would more vets were like you.My own vet son thinks there should be “limits”. No offense the word of a veteran carries no extra weight with me. Isn’t Tampon Tim some kind of vet? John “traitor” Kerry? That bastard Rep from Illinois who sided with Dims? Hunter Bidumb?
Vet can mean dangerous or damaging work conditions endured. Can also mean office work with minimal danger even with FOB rocket attacks. I just noticed that a lot of deployments and training centered around suppression of civilian rebellions against unpopular governments the entire time I was in paired with surveys trying to figure out if I would fire on US citizens……..they likely regretted making it anonymous with a write in section for much of the military at the time.
No offense taken. We’re just people.
Exactly
I’m proud to be a part of this grassroots, sincere and wholly spontaneously forming push for a great cause. I’m donating my checks right back to the Harris/Walz campaign. We have plenty more nations to build!
Ok that was pretty funny.
Probably hire RINO ‘Eye Patch McCain’ for their propaganda.
Well, not only this but the Harris campaign also hires ‘actors’ (actually regular people who respond to solicitations for work) thru a talent recruiting company to sit in her audiences to make it look like there are more people there.
I’m pretty sure Katy Chevigny, wife of the bogus so called ‘special prosecutor’ Jack Smith, laid out this tactic. Katy is the ‘official’ biographer for Michelle Obama and a background conspirator and fund raiser for the Democrat Party. (A little bit of conflict of interest there Jack)
And the audience has a strict demographic quota?
if you mean an audience of the stupid demographic.
“Harris campaign also hires ‘actors’”
Is this what you’re talking about?
“POLITICS NEWS
Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcement
BY AARON COUCH, EMMET MCDERMOTT
JUNE 17, 2015 2:53PM PDT
Donald Trump‘s big presidential announcement Tuesday was made a little bigger with help from paid actors — at $50 a pop.
New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump’s event.
“We are looking to cast people for the event to wear t-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement,” reads the June 12 email, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “We understand this is not a traditional ‘background job,’ but we believe acting comes in all forms and this is inclusive of that school of thought.”
Here’s the full email from Extra Mile, with contact information redacted.
Hi there—
We are working helping one of are [sic] associates out at Gotham GR – http://gothamgr.com/ with a big event happening on TUESDAY 6/16/15.
This is an event in support of Donald Trump and an upcoming exciting announcement he will be making at this event.
HOME
NEWS
POLITICS NEWS
Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcement
BY AARON COUCH, EMMET MCDERMOTT
JUNE 17, 2015 2:53PM PDT
Donald Trump Thumbs Up – H 2015
AP IMAGES
Donald Trump‘s big presidential announcement Tuesday was made a little bigger with help from paid actors — at $50 a pop.
New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump’s event.
“We are looking to cast people for the event to wear t-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement,” reads the June 12 email, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “We understand this is not a traditional ‘background job,’ but we believe acting comes in all forms and this is inclusive of that school of thought.” (Read the full email at the bottom of the post.)
Related Video
The pay was listed as $50 for less than three hours of work. According to the email, Extra Mile was reaching out to potential extras in partnership with Gotham Government Relations and Communications, a New York-Based political consulting group that has worked with Trump in the past. Gotham GR had no comment.
Questions as to whether the Trump campaign had hired extras were first raised Wednesday by anti-Trump activist Angelo Carusone, who came across an Instagram photo showing a man he recognized as a background actor posing at the Trump event. Carusone screengrabbed the photo of the actor, Domenico Del Giacco, and published it in a blog post. The photo shows Del Giacco with a woman, identified in the now-deleted Instagram post as actress Courtney Klotz. (Del Giacco has since deleted his entire Instagram account.)
When reached for comment about the Trump casting call, a person who answered the phone at Extra Mile said, “We don’t know anything about that.” When pressed about whether this response was a denial of the story, the person said she couldn’t comment further and hung up. Additional calls to Extra Mile went unanswered.
Asked if Trump paid anyone to attend the event, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said “no,” and that he had never heard of Extra Mile or Gotham GR.
“Mr. Trump draws record crowds at almost every venue at which he is a featured speaker,” Lewandowski told The Hollywood Reporter. “The crowds are large, often record-setting and enthusiastic, often with standing ovations. Mr. Trump’s message is, ‘Make America great again.’”
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Del Giacco and Klotz did not respond to a request for comment.
In politics, “astroturfing” is the term for hiring people to attend a rally or event in order to lend the appearance of grassroots support. Astroturfing is typically contracted out to political consulting firms, much like Gotham GR. The practice is considered bad form.
Here’s the full email from Extra Mile, with contact information redacted.
“Hi there—
We are working helping one of are [sic] associates out at Gotham GR – http://gothamgr.com/ with a big event happening on TUESDAY 6/16/15.
This is an event in support of Donald Trump and an upcoming exciting announcement he will be making at this event.
This event is called “People for a Stronger America.” The entire group is a pro-small business group that is dedicated to encouraging Donald Trump and his latest ventures. This event will be televised.
We are looking to cast people for the event to wear t-shirts and carry signs and help cheer him in support of his announcement.
We understand this is not a traditional “background job,” but we believe acting comes in all forms and this is inclusive of that school of thought.
This event is happening LIVE and will be from 8:45AM-11:30AM. LESS THAN 3 HOURS
This will take place inside / interior.
The rate for this is: $50 CASH at the end of the event.
We would love to book you if you are interested and still available.
Please let us know and we will get back to you with confirmation.“
Lol 2015 ok sure thing bud
Selling the Harris-Walz socialism program is difficult to people who’ve been around the block. Getting veterans to give up their firearms or ‘weapons of war’ as Tampon-Tim calls them will be even harder.
When I was in the army I had three or four friends that were “gun guys”. Out of a company of about 200 men. For the rest their weapon was just something they had to carry and clean.
I became more of a “gun guy” after my retirement from the U.S. Army. I quickly realized that the firearms training I received in the military was horribly inadequate. My skills with firearms significantly increased with training (both personally funded and post-retirement government work) and that takes into consideration that I was combat arms my entire career.
One sack of harris supporting sht used his military service to justify calling Trump a felon. That says more about an azzhole who is too dumb to know a kangaroo court when he sees one or he is a lowlife using a kangaroo court to justify being a slanderous gutless wonder…Either way he is a pos supporting the democRat pos harris and the democRat pervert tampon tim.
TRUMP/VANCE 2024.
“used his military service to justify calling Trump a felon“
No, Donald Trump is a felon because a jury of his peers heard the evidence and voted a true bill indictment, a trial was held and another jury found him guilty of 34 felonies.
No Miner49er, he did indeed use his military service to call Trump a felon because part of Walz claim to his run for vice president is that he served in the military.
But anyway, Walz signed a law in Minnesota re-enfranchising 55,000 convicted felons to restore their voting rights. Its a lot hypocritical, so astronomically hypocritical AND deceptive, that Walz would dare to call Trump a felon when Walz himself enables convicted felons to participate in the election process.
Yes yes yes now ya gonna launch into a bunch of out of context and slant and other deceptive BS claiming its not the same thing more blah blah blah blah from you … its just more mentally ill TDS from a radial extremist left winger democrat voting idiot … so go right ahead.
correction for : ‘radial extremist’
should have been…
radical extremist
“astronomically hypocritical AND deceptive, that Walz would dare to call Trump a felon when Walz himself enables convicted felons to participate in the election process.“
How so?
Donald Trump is a felon, it’s been adjudicated in a court of law by a properly empaneled jury of his peers.
And Governor Walz was right to restore voting privileges to non-violent felons, that’s what we call freedom.
There’s no hypocrisy there, your membership in the cult requires you to name-call even when it’s invalid, sad.
I know where there is hypocrisy… You found fault with the governor restoring voting rights to convicted felons, do you believe convicted felons should be denied firearms ownership as well or is that ‘different’?
And once more we’ve heard from roland freisler.
Name-calling is all you got, how sad.
But you can take heart in knowing that your Nuremberg 2.0 marches on!
“3 years later, Jan. 6 by the numbers: More than 1,200 charged, more than 460 imprisoned for role in Capitol attack
Prosecutors have secured more than 718 guilty pleas in Jan. 6 cases.
ByAlexander Mallin
January 5, 2024, 5:03 PM”
Just remember, Nuremberg 2.0 will be when you fascists face justice.
Not when mostly peaceful protestors are ground down by a corrupt system.
As for name calling. If you do not see the connection between yourself and roland then you truly are un self aware.
“If you do not see the connection between yourself and roland… “
I’m sorry, I haven’t studied the Nazi governmental structure as rigorously as you, please forgive my ignorance of the subject.
So it’s just coincidence that you are aping the fascist toadies?
You just live your life in such a way that you’ve adopted fascism even though you haven’t studied it?
It means nothing to me that a veteran says something. The only thing I care about is honesty and whether their experience backs up what they say.
Veterans in the past have worked to stop black people from getting their civil rights back.
Same for ho.mosex.uals. They are as anti-civil rights as are many Veterans. People think a title of “veteran” means something special.
Only when and if they up hold their vows to the Constitution. So many veterans in political office have not done so. Also, “anti-war folks” are the same. Many are anti-civil rights when it comes to the second amendment.
The anti-war crowd wants the government to destroy private gun manufacturers.
I retired after 22 years in the army. I served with plenty of people gay and straight, who didn’t support the Constitution.
Trump and Vance are better supporters of the constitution. Than Harris who like Trump didn’t serve. And Vance is better than Waltz. And both of them did serve.
The P.OW. John McCain was anti-civil rights.
People First might find more willing participants if they target their recruitment to those whose former rank was major or higher. They tend to have more disdain and contempt for mere “civilians”.
SC – like say the retired general who came up with the “fully semi-automatic” term perhaps. Not that he was being intentionally deceptive or anything…………
Couch, a 32-year-old former member of the Army Reserves, is charged with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault. He will likely face more charges for damage to other vehicles and running from authorities, Laurel County felony prosecutor Jackie Steele told the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Schools in nearby Laurel County, Kentucky, remained closed for a second day on Tuesday “out of an abundance of caution,” Laurel County Public Schools announced. London Mayor Randall Weddle urged residents of the town of around 7,500 to stay calm and “stand together.” London is around 140 miles southeast of Louisville.
atf does like to murder folks.
“atf does like to murder folks“
Joseph Couch is not in anyway connected to the ATF, Joseph Couch is a white male gun owner and American citizen who used his modern sporting rifle AR15 to attack at least five innocent Americans.
Once he is apprehended, stands trial and convicted, then he will be a felon, just like Donald Trump.
So what you’re saying is he’s a perfect candidate for recruitment for the atf.
Isn’t it racist to point out his race?
“So what you’re saying is he’s a perfect candidate for recruitment for the atf”
He would need a better education for federal service, but he is a perfect candidate for republican politician, from their campaign ads I know many of them are fans like him of the AR15.
“Guns and Political Violence Play Central Role in MAGA Republican Campaign Ads
At least 104 MAGA Republican ads this cycle display and feature firearms or weapons, blowtorches, and even “Tommy” gun auctions, with many including threats against opponents on both the left and right.
AUTHORS W I’mll Ragland, Ryan Koronowski, Danielle Dietz”
“Isn’t it racist to point out his race?“
Nope.
Double standards again.
“Once he is apprehended, stands trial and convicted, then he will be a felon, just like Donald Trump.”
Trump did not use any firearm to kill anyone. Various levels of felonies and they are not equal.
“Veterans have credibility”
that’s the problem, they don’t, being a vet makes you no more qualified about policy than anyone else
The vast majority of veterans haven’t touched a firearm since basic and are less qualified to talk about firearm usage than the obese cops that put holes in the ceilings of indoor ranges when they reup their cert.
It’s like taking a complaint about the VA’s PTSD treatment seriously from a man who only saw combat in Italian bars.
“the VA’s PTSD treatment“
Governor Walz walks the walk of helping America’s veterans:
“WALZ SIGNS HOUSING, VETERANS OMNIBUS BILLS INTO LAW
Kim North May 22, 2023 News
The governor also signed the veterans and military affairs finance omnibus bill, which he and lawmakers say will move the state closer to ending Veteran homelessness.
Additionally, the bill includes funding for additional service bonuses, three new Veterans homes, and Minnesota National Guard health and training.”
I’m in Georgia. Where do I volunteer? Will the fact that I’m a long time NRA member affect my application?
BTW, I’m still waiting to hear what gun the camel owns. And whether she can hit the broad side of a barn with it.