The Christian nationalist far-right has seized on yet another thing they think is "Satanic," and it makes very little sense whatsoever.
In a recent video, white nationalist and self-described "theocratic fascist" Matt Walsh of the The Daily Wire sounded alarms about anime, the beloved Japanese animation genre, as being Satanic and a pathway to "demonic possession."
On what basis is he claiming this, you ask? None whatsoever, by his own admission. See the clip below.
\u201cDaily Wire host on anime: "I think it's all Satanic. I have no argument for it -- I have no argument for why it's Satanic, it just seems that way to me"\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1666010710
Asked by a viewer what he thinks of anime, Walsh called the genre Satanic before openly admitting he doesn't know what he's talking about.
"I think it’s all satanic."
“I have no argument for it. I have no argument for why it’s satanic."
"It just seems that way to me. All anime to me seems weird—just like bizarre, creepy.”
So there you have it: Anime is Satanic because Matt Walsh thinks it's weird. Walsh went on to say that adults watching animation in any capacity is immoral.
“In general, I don’t think that adults should be—whether it’s anime or any other kind of cartoon, with rare exception—adults really shouldn’t be watching cartoons in general, I would say."
Walsh's deeply weird comments of course stirred up no shortage of blowback on Twitter, but as always, Walsh was unfazed, and turned the whole thing into an elaborate trolling operation.
In the first of two tweets, Walsh doubled down on his take with a fake statistic. He tweeted:
"I’m catching some heat because I said that anime is satanic. I just want to clarify that yes it will literally lead to demonic possession in upwards of 87 percent of cases, studies show."
There are no "case studies" of Satanic possession via cartoons because that isn't real, of course.
In the next tweet, he widened his take to include all animation, not just anime.
"I want to apologize for singling out anime. I actually think all cartoons are satanic."
And just in case the troll wasn't perfectly clear, he went on to warn that the animated children's shows Cocomelon and Paw Patrol are also Satanic in a subsequent video.
\u201c.@MattWalshBlog speaking 100% truth #pawpatrol #cocomelon #satanic\u201d— Garth Smith (@Garth Smith) 1666265467
Given Paw Patrol's heralding of cops as heroes and the right's adoration of policing, this take doesn't even make sense. But heaven forbid anyone on the right actually think anybody's rhetoric through before swallowing it wholesale.
Anyway, on Twitter, Walsh's bizarre take on anime left a bad taste in lots of mouths.
\u201c\u201cEverything that I don\u2019t understand and scares me is Satanic.\u201d - Matt Walsh, probably.\n\nThis is a real man? \ud83e\udd21\u201d— Chris for M4A (end for profit prisons & policing) (@Chris for M4A (end for profit prisons & policing)) 1666021225
\u201cMy favorite thing about Matt Walsh calling anime Satanic (whether he's trolling or not) is seeing a bunch of younger folks acting betrayed that a conservative Christian talking head would call something they like Satanic.\u201d— Trash King (@Trash King) 1666208122
\u201cMatt Walsh has lost 27,000 Twitter followers in the last few hours after stating anime is "satanic."\u201d— Tooth (nb god) \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Tooth (nb god) \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1666035159
\u201cRare to see someone just openly say all anime is literally satanic in the Year Of Our Lord 2022, but not surprising it's Matt Walsh doing so. Particularly amusing that he also outright admits he doesn't even have an argument for it.\u201d— MayaScientist (@MayaScientist) 1666021638
\u201cMatt Walsh thinks anime is satanic which is really the best endorsement for watching more anime I can think of\u201d— SPIRAL CURSE DEMARCO (@SPIRAL CURSE DEMARCO) 1666204632
\u201c\u201cMatt Walsh is satanic in ways that he might be uncomfortable with, and many of his fans might be uncomfortable with, but that\u2019s the reality of it.\u201d \n\nhttps://t.co/mMXHycljZE\u201d— The Church Of Satan (@The Church Of Satan) 1666053490
\u201cOkay, I am actually having a laugh right now, this guy Matt Walsh is just pathetically sad. Literally he has to be joking just for attention cause this guy literally calls everything satanic. So if sees my Pok\u00e9mon cards we would just call them trapped souls from satan lmao.\u201d— MrWolfyNerd (@MrWolfyNerd) 1666274258
\u201cThe saddest thing is despite actually trying to murder trans people, the thing that will convince most people that Matt Walsh is an unreasonable lunatic is him frothing at the mouth about anime and calling it Satanic.\u201d— The Autopsy of Ashley Lynch \ud83d\udd2a\ud83c\udf9e\ufe0f (@The Autopsy of Ashley Lynch \ud83d\udd2a\ud83c\udf9e\ufe0f) 1666122713
\u201cMatt Walsh is taking the \u201cI was just joking, this is proof we can\u2019t do small talk or off the cuff comments anymore\u201d route in his \u201cdefense\u201d of his anime is Satanic take, blaming Media Matters for\u2026 uh\u2026 pointing out what he said online.\u201d— CREEPY GHOST NOISES. BOO. (@CREEPY GHOST NOISES. BOO.) 1666230573
\u201cMatt Walsh getting more pushback for saying anime is satanic than when he advocates for violence against trans people really says a lot.\nLike A LOT.\u201d— Nepko\ud83d\udc00 \ud83d\udc09 \ud83e\udd8b (@Nepko\ud83d\udc00 \ud83d\udc09 \ud83e\udd8b) 1666053282
As irritating as this is, at least he's just trolling about cartoons and not leading a violent movement attacking children's hospitals that treat transgender children or urging 16-year-old girls to get married and become pregnant.
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MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images
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