The Brief: Twitter users are responding to Rand Paul and Donald Trump's anti-Antifa comments with memes about the non-existent "Antifa HQ" and "Antifa Airlines."

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Antifa HQ Memes

Short for anti-fascist, Antifa is a decentralized movement to stop fascism. President Trump has characterized Antifa as a “terrorist organization.” On Monday, he repeated unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about “people that are in the dark shadows” and an airplane that was “almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms with gear and this and that.”

On Tuesday, former politician Chuck Callesto tweeted that Senator Rand Paul had “called to SUBPOENA ANTIFA plane records, hotel records, all travel records & all funding….” after he had been confronted by protestors outside the Republican National Convention. Before this claim was verified, Twitter users started dunking on Rand Paul and Donald Trump for their opposition to a movement that opposes fascism, and for perpetuating the idea that such a decentralized movement would have coordinated air travel, funding, hotels, and even headquarters.

Similar to “CEO of Antifa comments,” Antifa HQ memes mock the idea that Antifa is an organized group that would have headquarters in a physical location. They also push back at the idea that a movement against fascism is considered a terrorist organization by some elected officials. Many memes cite anti-fascists of history such as the U.S. military in World War II as clear examples that opposing fascism is a good thing.

https://twitter.com/wildwestleft/status/1300872505016700929

Antifa Airlines

While there is no official airline of Antifa, Twitter users ran with this idea to poke fun at politicians on the far-right suggesting that Antifa is something that it’s not.