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Flynn has interacted with far right and anti-Semitic figures, maligned the Muslim faith, and shared unfounded news stories on Twitter.
Emails to a spokesperson for President-elect Trump and Flynn seeking comment were not returned.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has been asked to serve as Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser, has, on his verified Twitter account, interacted with far right and anti-Semitic figures, maligned the Muslim faith, and shared unfounded news stories.
A CNN KFile review of Flynn’s Twitter account finds that the retired lieutenant general, who once served as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, tweeted routinely with members of the so-called alt-right movement, going so far as to endorse a book by one controversial figure who regularly makes offensive comments.
Flynn faced criticism in July when he retweeted an anti-Semitic message. Flynn said the retweet was an accident and deleted the message.
Emails to a spokesperson for President-elect Trump and Flynn seeking comment were not returned. A follow up question to Flynn asking who managed his Twitter account also went unreturned.
Tweeting with the fringe:
Flynn regularly interacted on Twitter with members of the alt-right movement — a far right ideological group whose members primarily use social media as platform to spread their message.
On 15 different occasions, Flynn tagged in his tweets alt-right figure Mike Cernovich, who regularly tweets inflammatory and unfounded conspiracy theories.
Cernovich runs a website called Danger and Play, which has pushed conspiracy theories that the Orlando Pulse shooter did not act alone and that Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman was part of a sex cult.
Flynn urged his followers to follow Cernovich, tweeting in October, “Follow Mike @Cernovich He has a terrific book, Gorilla Mindset. Well worth the read. @realDonaldTrump will win on 8 NOV!!!”
Cernovich once wrote in a since-deleted tweet: “Have you guys ever tried ‘raping’ a girl without using force? Try it. It’s basically impossible. Date rape does not exist.”
Last February, Cernovich tweeted: “Not being a slut is the only proven way to avoid AIDS. If you love black women, slut shame them.”
In July Cernovich tweeted, “The ‘alt-right’ hasn’t killed anyone, but #BlackLivesMatter regularly slaughters the innocent. Know the real threat. Think! #Dallas”
In late October, Flynn linked to a Cernovich story titled “How to Save Twitter,” where he argued harassment wasn’t a big issue on Twitter and said “the company is being run by rabid SJWs [social justice warriors] who don’t care about users.” The article included a tweet of Cernovich calling a woman raising awareness about the herpes virus “ugly and has herpes.”
Flynn wrote of the story, “I totally agree…Citizen journalism is the new future for truth because truth fears no questions. @Cernovich @IngrahamAngle #TruthMatters.”
In August, Flynn retweeted a Breitbart article by alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, who was banned from Twitter earlier this year, titled “Hillary Clinton Is About To Embarass(sic) Herself On The Alt-Right.”
On three occasions, Flynn tagged in his tweets Jared Wyland, an alt-right, anti-Semitic commentator who has tweeted about the “Liberal Jewish media.” Flynn also shared some of Wyland’s tweets that linked to videos, including one Wyland tweeted with the message, “MUST WATCH: Ex-Muslim schools Obama on how #ISIS is practicing Islam to the letter Choose Reality America!”
Flynn shared the video with his own comment, writing, “Brother Rashid is worth listening to for 8:47. Most powerful message I’ve heard in a long time.”
Some examples of past tweets from Wyland include him writing, “Liberal Jewish media wants us to embrace diversity. We should start by making sure they’re only 1.4% of the media.”
Wyland once tweeted at the executive director of the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). “You talked a lot of shit and now you’re months away from being tied to a terrorist organization,” Wyland wrote a recent tweet juxtaposed with a picture of a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp. “Tick Tock.”
In August, Flynn retweeted a Breitbart article by alt-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, who was banned from Twitter earlier this year, titled “Hillary Clinton Is About To Embarass(sic) Herself On The Alt-Right.”
Tweets about Muslims:
Flynn has also shared Islamophobic tweets and sentiments.
“In next 24 hours, I dare Arab & Persian world ‘leaders’ to step up to the plate and declare their Islamic ideology sick and must B healed,” Flynn tweeted in July of this year following the terrorist attack in Nice, France.
In February, Flynn made waves when he tweeted it was rational to fear Muslims.
“Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL: please forward this to others: the truth fears no questions,” Flynn said with a link to a video claiming Islamophobia was rational and that Islam wanted 80% of humanity enslaved or exterminated.
Sharing false or misleading news:
Days before the election, Flynn tweeted a false story claiming the NYPD had found evidence on Anthony Weiner’s laptop “to put Hillary (Clinton) and her crew away for life.”
In late October, Flynn retweeted a false claim that United Nations Agenda 21, a sustainable development program, would create a one world church where Christianity was prohibited and that choosing nationalism was the only way to stop Clinton.
In July, Flynn linked to a tweet that falsely claimed Clinton was “wearing hijab in solidarity with islamic terrorists.” The picture was from a 2009 trip Clinton took to Pakistan as secretary of state, in which she donned a head covering during a visit to a mosque as a diplomatic courtesy.
“This is not showing respect. This is showing disrespect for American Values and Principles. #NeverHillary,” Flynn wrote in his link to the tweet.
In another instance, he linked to a LifeZette article questioning if an Iranian scientist was executed recently because he was exposed on Clinton’s private email server While Clinton advisers did discuss the scientist over email in July 2010, Clinton also publicly commented on the case of Shahram Amiri at the time, and The New York Times reported at the time that he was a CIA informant.