Meet Carpe Donktum — Pro-Trump Meme Maker Suspended From Twitter For Copyright Violation
His account was suspended for an hour.
getty Logan Cook, known as Carpe Donktum, had his Twitter account suspended last week following the posting of a meme created by a contributor for his website, Meme World. However, his account was reinstated an hour later, according to Buzzfeed. It turns out that the video was considered copyright infringement because it used a Super Bowl commercial from February 2018.
"What they told me in the email is that I was suspended for copyright infringement," Cook told his followers, Buzzfeed shared. "It was an indefinite or permanent suspension, but it was obviously reversed."
Cook gained popularity from his GIFs and videos that Donald Trump has shared on his personal Twitter, gaining millions of views from users. Cook’s material is also popular on the Trump subreddit r/The_Donald and he's even been invited to the White House.
Who is Carpe Donktum? Read on for all the details.
1. Trump invited Cook to the White House.
According to The New York Times, Trump really took a liking to Cook. Back in July, Cook was invited by Trump to the White House for a “social media summit,” which included 200+ social media influencers. This event was held so Trump could show his appreciation to the influencers for supporting his presidency. Along with Cook, the event included many other far-right activists.
2. Trump has tweeted many of Cook’s memes.
One popular video Trump shared that Cook created was a parody of Joe Biden’s recent apology after old footage surfaced of the former vice president's non-consensual touching of several women. The video was viewed more than 31 million times. Watching the parody makes one's skin crawl as it shows Biden's apology while a cutout of Biden, which Cook inserted, can be seen creepily watching him and later appearing to rub his shoulders as he speaks.
Trump captioned the video, “WELCOME BACK JOE!” and Biden responded, “I see that you are on the job and presidential, as always.”
3. Cook doesn’t get paid directly for his content.
Contrary to popular belief, Cook doesn’t get paid for his work, according to The New York Times. But, he said that he does make money through Patreon crowdfunding and occasional YouTube ad revenue. "Patreon is a crowdfunding membership platform based in the United States that provides business tools for creators to run a subscription content service, with ways for artists to build relationships and provide exclusive experiences to their subscribers, or 'patrons,'' according to Wikipedia.
4. Cook launched his own meme website.
According to Buzzfeed, due to his popularity among the far-right, Cook launched his own website called Meme World, which is a social network where others can share right-wing and far-right memes. The site is set up like Reddit where it allows creators to post, comment, rate and share other memes and it includes over 20 well-known creators.
5. A recent video put 'Meme World' under fire.
In a tweet by Michael S. Schmidt, he shared that someone created a video of the president as “a mass shooter executing members of the media and his political opponents in a church.”
Carpe responded to the video by saying, “The creator of the video is, and will remain a contributor to my site Meme World.” He declined to identify the video’s creator to avoid harassment.
6. The unauthorized video was somehow shown at the AMPF festival.
According to The New York Times, the video was played at one point during the three-day event that was a “meme exhibit,” Alex Phillips, organizer of the American Priority Festival and Conference said. The parody included Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign logo.
“It has come to our attention that an unauthorized video was shown in a side room at #AMPFest19,” a statement posted to the conference’s website said. “This video was not approved, seen, or sanctioned by the #AMPFest19 organizers.”
The statement went on to note that the conference “always has and always will condemn political violence.” Phillips told The New York Times the “matter is under review.”
Elizabeth Ward is a writing student finishing her bachelor’s at the University of Louisville. She covers news, entertainment, relationships and everything in between.