On Charlie Kirk's show, Mike Davis praises Christian Nationalism and attacks the "Third-world Marxist trash that Joe Biden is importing into our country"

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“Trump's viceroy of DC”: The violent threats and bigotry of MAGA media favorite Mike Davis

Written by Media Matters Staff

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Mike Davis, the founder of right-wing think tank Article III Project and frequent right-wing media guest, has been floated as a possible attorney general pick in a second Trump administration. His right-wing media footprint and social media feeds are full of support for authoritarianism and virulent anti-Black remarks, particularly against Black women. Davis frequently details violent fantasies of revenge against perceived enemies of former President Donald Trump and people who commit crimes.

Davis has been floated as Trump's attorney general in a second administration by Steve Bannon and Donald Trump Jr. He has repeatedly said that he could not be confirmed by the Senate because of his extreme social media posts. Instead, Davis often talks about what he would do as "Trump's viceroy of DC" including sending politicians, journalists, and regular civilians who disagree with him to what he calls the “D.C. Gulag,” throwing them in gas chambers, and cutting off their fingers and hands. Davis has made over thirty social media posts threatening to put people in a “gulag,” though he claims he is simply “trolling the left.”

 We've rounded up his racist, misogynistic, and authoritarian remarks here. For Media Matters' guide to the MAGA media universe, click here.

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  • Davis frequently attacks Black women

    • After former Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned, Davis posted, “These leftwing black women are objectively unqualified on paper. Now we learn they are frauds.” [Twitter/X, 1/30/24]

    • Davis called Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis a “dumb, home-wrecking hoe.” [Twitter/X, 1/21/24]

    • Davis said “powerful Marxist Black women,” like MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid, “are some of the most destructive forces in American society.” [Twitter/X, 1/17/24]

    • Responding to a post that claimed John Hopkins University had released a “hit list of people automatically guilty of ‘privilege,’” Davis said, “They left off unqualified, leftwing Black elite women.” [Twitter/X, 1/11/24]

    • Davis called Gay an “unqualified Black woman” who “only got picked because of her skin pigment and genitals.” [Twitter/X, 1/5/23]

    • Davis wrote that Vice President Kamala Harris “personifies #equity” because she is “utterly incompetent” and was “only picked because of her skin pigment and/or genitals.” [Twitter/X, 1/4/23]

    • Posting pictures of Harris, Gay, and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as “Exhibits 1, 2, and 3,” Davis wrote that “Democrats must stop picking people for crucial jobs based upon skin pigment, genitals, attraction to genitals, or perception of genitals.” [Twitter/X, 1/4/23]

    • On an episode of War Room in September, Davis claimed, with no evidence, that President Joe Biden wanted to replace Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) with a Black woman “so they can hit their diversity goals.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 9/22/23]

    • A month earlier on War Room, Davis attacked Willis, calling her “particularly dumb.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 8/28/23]

    • On Bannon’s show, Davis called Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson “loud, angry, and dumb.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 8/7/23]

    • Davis said Jean-Pierre “doesn’t understand the law," is “terrible at her job” and is “only there because she’s a Black woman," just “Like Kamala.” He said that “proves Biden’s complete lack of good judgment.” [Twitter/X, 7/8/23]

  • Davis attacks and uses racist stereotypes about nonwhite people

    • Davis frequently calls migrants “third-world trash” and calls to deport them en masse, seemingly referencing the great replacement conspiracy theory by saying “Biden” and “Democrats” are “importing into America third-world Marxist trash.” [Twitter/X, 2/12/24; 1/31/24; 1/30/24]

    • Responding to reporting on a carjacking that led to a homicide, Davis wrote, “The violent black underclass murders again.” [Twitter/X, 1/30/24]

    • Responding to reporting that two children allegedly attempted a robbery, Davis posted to X, “Arrest their moms. And dads, if you can find them.” [Twitter/X, 1/27/24]

    • Davis pressed his followers to “breakdown the murder rates for fatherless young black men who live at the poverty level or below.” [Twitter/X, 1/23/23]

    • Davis criticized Biden’s actions regarding “his angry Black base.” [Twitter/X, 1/24/24]

    • Davis baselessly blamed the “violent black underclass” for the murder of a volunteer in D.C. He denied this was a racist assumption, saying: “Save your 'Racist!' bullsh*t. Just look at the violent crime statistics." [Twitter/X, 1/22/24]

    • Davis posted that “the violent black underclass keeps stealing coats off the backs of DC residents" who “keep voting for this,” adding an emoji of a Black raised fist. [Twitter/X, 1/21/24]

    • Davis said that Democrats are “coddling the violent black (and Muslim) underclass.” [Twitter/X, 1/15/24]

    • Responding to reporting on a suspected armed robbery perpetrated by “black male juveniles,” Davis posted that “these animals are invading Woodley Park," adding, “Stay woke, DC.” [Twitter/X, 1/11/24]

    • Davis spoke out against “thugs” in D.C., adding “#equity" and a raised Black fist emoji. [Twitter/X, 1/5/24]

    • Attacking Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Davis claimed, “People are starting now to wonder, ‘How did this guy get along with a law degree from Harvard and an undergrad degree from Harvard?’” [One America News, OAN News, 4/10/23]

  • Davis often posts about carrying out authoritarian or retributive “justice,” particularly against journalists

    • Davis proudly declared on Donald Trump Jr.’s podcast that he would “clean up crime in D.C. overnight” and “scare the hell out of criminals in one day” if appointed “Trump’s viceroy in D.C.” [Rumble, Triggered with Donald Trump Jr., 2/12/24]

    • Davis called on D.C. residents to “arm up” and “shoot to kill” to protect themselves against “roving gangs of carjackers and murderers.” [Twitter/X, 1/30/24]

    • Davis posted extensively of his violent plans for when he is “Trump’s viceroy of D.C.” They include cutting fingers and hands off shoplifters, caning people for “loud music and littering" and caning “MSNBC hosts who don’t call me ‘Your Excellency,’” and employing a “gas chamber for Members of Congress lying to Americans." [Twitter/X, 1/21/24; 1/22/24; 1/22/24; 1/22/24]

    • Davis said that “the Trump 47 Justice Department and IRS must open criminal investigations on BLM and the Marxist grifters who run it.” [Twitter/X, 1/21/24]

    • Davis wrote about his intended “3-week reign of terror” to “troll leftists” as retribution during a second Trump term. [Twitter/X, 1/18/24]

    • During an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room, Davis said, “I would love to put [MSNBC journalist] Mehdi Hasan in a gulag.” [Lindell TV, War Room, 12/11/23]

    • Davis attempted to fundraise off of threats to throw Media Matters’ Eric Hananoki and Matt Gertz in “the DC gulag.” He also posted that he would put them “in the women’s cell block.” [Twitter/X, 11/10/23; 11/10/23]

    • After Rolling Stone reporter Nikki McCann Ramirez called Davis a “ghoulish figure,” he wrote he was “excited to throw Nikki in the DC gulag with the rest of her former @MMFA colleagues.” [Rolling Stone, 11/10/23; Twitter/X, 11/11/23]

    • Davis posted that he is “excited” to put Media Matters’ Jason Cambell “and all the leftwing freaks at @MMFA” on his lists of people to indict, deport, and detain. [Twitter/X, 9/29/23; 11/2/23]

    • Davis promised a “reign of terror” if Trump appoints him as acting attorney general in a potential second term. [Media Matters, 8/24/23]

    • Davis advertised that during his “3-week reign of terror as Trump's acting attorney general, I will fire and indict as many political opponents as possible." He added: "(Maybe even those who don't take a Trump loyalty pledge.) Then I'll leave with my (pre-signed) Trump pardon.” [Twitter/X, 7/12/23]

    • In late November, Davis posted, “We’re going to redirect the money for the new FBI headquarters to build the biggest, most beautiful gulag in the world.” He added, “Don’t worry, FBI leadership. You’ll still work from there. (Making license plates.)” [Twitter/X, 11/30/23]

    • Davis has taken aim at journalist Tim Miller a handful of times online, in one post writing, “Where could we even deport @Timodc?" He added: “He’s too whiny and high-maintenance. They’ll send him back immediately. We should just put him in the gender-neutral wing of the DC Gulag.” The next month, Davis wrote, “Don’t worry, @Timodc. I’ll put you in the women’s cell block in the DC gulag. So you don’t get beat up as often.” A couple of hours later he added, “Just imagine @Timodc's face when I throw him in the DC gulag." [Twitter/X, 10/4/23; 11/12/23; 11/12/23]

    • In July, Davis asked his followers, “Which reporters should I have arrested and sent to the DC gulag?” Davis followed up with a similar question two months later, asking one X user, “Want to be the prison warden at Gitmo or the DC gulag, where I'm detaining these Democrats?” [Twitter/X, 7/12/23; 9/9/23]

    • Targeting former FBI Director James Comey, Davis wrote back in April, “When I'm Trump's next acting attorney general, he will go to the DC gulag.” [Twitter/X, 4/6/23]

  • Davis uses violent misogyny to attack those he disagrees with

    • When the Supreme Court allowed the Biden administration to take down razor wire that Texas had put along stretches of the southern border, Davis said it was led by “the emotions of 4 1/2 women on the Court.” [Twitter/X, 1/24/24; CNN, 1/22/24]

    • Davis proposed that as “Trump’s viceroy of DC,” he would be “cutting out the tongues of Democrat activist women who lie about sexual assault.” [Twitter/X, 1/22/24]

    • Davis posted an image of E. Jean Carroll, who says Trump raped her, next to former first lady Melania Trump and wrote, “Dear President Trump: Here is the only exhibit you need for Jean Carroll trial.” [GETTR, 1/18/24]

    • Davis called Anita Hill, Christine Blasey Ford, and E. Jean Carroll “three Democrat women who let Democrat operatives use them like cheap whores" adding that they “liked it." [Twitter/X, 1/17/24]

    • Davis posted that movements such as Me Too and "'women’s groups'" are “just abortion-industry and Marxist front groups” and claimed that he supposedly “smoked out these hacks during the Kavanaugh confirmation.” [Twitter/X, 11/21/23]