Stephen Miller’s White House Intern Flashed The ‘White Power’ Sign
Milo Yiannopoulos making the “white power” gesture. Image by Twitter
By Ari Feldman December 29, 2017
Jack Breuer held up a hand signal used by far right figures and white nationalists. Image by facebook
Instead of giving a thumbs up, as directed by President Donald Trump, former White House intern Jack Breuer flashed the distinctive “white power” hand signal used by many prominent white nationalists, the Daily Mail reported.
The gesture has been used by far-right conspiracy theorists like Milo Yiannopoulos, Mike Cernovich and Laura Loomer, as well as white nationalists like Richard Spencer. Subtler than a “sieg heil” Nazi salute, the white power signal, when made with the right hand facing the camera, supposedly makes a “W” with the three outstretched fingers and a “P” with the thumb and forefinger.
The gesture started as an elaborate internet hoax, or troll, concocted by users of the anonymous internet forum 4chan. But it has now has taken on a life of its own as a kind of shibboleth for white nationalists and their far right sympathizers.
Milo Yiannopoulos making the “white power” gesture. Image by Twitter
The picture — a “class photo” of the dozens of White House interns — was mailed out in seasons greetings cards before Christmas.
“It is a distinct symbol known in alt-right circles and what makes it worse is that he is doing it in the East Room just below the portrait of George Washington,” another White House intern told the Daily Mail.
Breuer worked as an intern for Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior adviser for policy. Miller has been the driving force behind Trump’s Muslim bans and other immigration reforms.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
