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Catturd
Born
Phillip Buchanan

(1964-09-18) September 18, 1964 (age 60)
MovementRight-wing politics
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1986; ann. 1988)​
​
​
(div. 1991)​
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​
(div. 2002)​

Catturd (born September 18, 1964) is the online identity of right-wing[1][2][3][4] American Twitter shitposter and Internet troll Phillip Buchanan.[5][6][7][8][9] The account is known for its scatological humor, as well as spreading conspiracy theories and disinformation.[10][11] Buchanan lives in Wewahitchka, Florida, on a "ranch in the middle of nowhere".[6][12][13]

Personal life

Buchanan was born on September 18, 1964.[14] He is thrice-divorced. He married his first wife, whom he met at a gym when she was 19 and he was in his early 20s, in September 1986. The marriage was annulled in 1988. By 1991, Buchanan had married and divorced another woman. His third marriage happened a few years later, while he was working at a post office and pursuing music. They parted in 1998 and divorced in 2002.[12]

According to Buchanan, he has experienced homelessness and struggled with alcoholism. He decided to join social media at the age of 54 for an "artistic outlet" after losing the ability to play guitar due to developing arthritis in his fingers.[15]

Buchanan said he served in the United States Army. In the 1990s, he filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and later fronted a band in Tallahassee, Florida.[12]

Online activity

In the 2010s, Buchanan began posting on Disqus under stories from websites such as Breitbart News.[12][dubious – discuss] The Twitter handle @catturd had been taken in 2010, and Catturd denied being the poster of the suspended account @CATTURD1. @catturd2 was created in September 2018, receiving retweets from Jack Posobiec. Over a year later, his account had over 100,000 followers, and half a million by the end of 2020. Donald Trump retweeted Catturd seven times.[12] Media Matters for America accused Buchanan of violating Twitter's platform manipulation policy, attempting to boost hashtags into the trending topics list.[3]

When Elon Musk acquired Twitter, Buchanan was enthusiastic about the purchase, and the two had previously replied to each other on the platform.[16][17] Buchanan praised Musk for plans to scale back Twitter's content moderation,[18] but said his account remained shadowbanned even after the purchase. Musk reached out personally to provide support.[19][20] Later on, Buchanan tweeted that he was "100% wrong about [Elon Musk] changing Twitter."[21][22][23] In March 2023, leaked internal documents from Twitter revealed that Catturd was among a handful of accounts having their reach artificially inflated by Twitter under Musk.[24][25]

The same month, Buchanan conducted a Twitter poll of a hypothetical 2024 Republican presidential primary between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, showing Trump winning 69%. This poll was presented by Trump at a rally and by Trump-affiliated super PAC MAGA Inc. on Twitter.[10][26]

References

  1. ^ Gilbert, David (August 10, 2022). "Trump Is Peddling a Conspiracy the FBI Planted Evidence at Mar-a-Lago". Vice. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  2. ^ Joshi, Ketan (January 18, 2023). "The Dawn of Gas Stove Denialism". The New Republic. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Li, E. Rosalie (December 10, 2021). "Twitter has allowed one user to manipulate the platform by coordinating over 40 hashtags, seemingly in violation of policy". Media Matters. Research contributions from Alex Kaplan. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  4. ^ Tabahriti, Sam (October 30, 2022). "Joe Rogan praises Elon Musk for wanting to bring a 'reasonable exchange of ideas' back to Twitter". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  5. ^ "Here are the right-wing figures who demanded Elon Musk reinstate a Twitter conspiracy theorist who posted child sexual abuse imagery". Media Matters for America. July 28, 2023. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Goforth, Claire (July 25, 2023). "Twitter icon Catturd, a Trump favorite, revealed". The Daily Dot. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
  7. ^ Gilbert, David (February 27, 2023). "The Far Right Wants You to Think Ukraine's War Is Staged: 'It Is Clearly a Psyop'". Vice. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  8. ^ Gilbert, David (March 27, 2023). "QAnon Spent the Weekend Spreading a John Fetterman Body Double Conspiracy Theory". Vice. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  9. ^ Klee, Miles (November 14, 2022). "Elon Musk Keeps Taking Twitter Advice From Right-Wing Trolls". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Sheth, Sonam (March 28, 2023). "Trump touts Twitter poll from '@catturd2' showing him with a big lead over Ron DeSantis". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  11. ^ Thakker, Prem (May 12, 2023). "Elon Musk Is the Only One Happy About New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  12. ^ a b c d e Klee, Miles (February 9, 2023). "Who Is @Catturd2, the Sh-tposting King of MAGA Twitter?". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  13. ^ "Electronic Articles of Organization For CATTURD, LLC". Florida Division of Corporations. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  14. ^ catturd tweeted that in 1969, he was 5 years old, and in a separate tweet on September 18, 2022, requested a birthday hashtag trend.
  15. ^ @catturd2 (July 19, 2023). "At the age of 54, I decided to join social media for the first time because I suddenly got arthritis in my fingers where I lost the ability to play guitar. I was lost again and needed some kind of artistic outlet" (Tweet). Retrieved December 18, 2024 – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Hounshell, Blake (November 4, 2022). "What Twitter's Shake-Up Could Mean: Midterm Misinformation Run Amok". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  17. ^ Hoard, Charis; McCabe, Audrey; Seavey, Ruby (December 15, 2022). "Elon Musk continues to cater to far-right Twitter accounts promoting bigotry, extremism, and misinformation". Media Matters. Research contributed by Carly Evans and Kayla Gogarty. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  18. ^ Griffing, Alex (March 30, 2023). "Elon Musk Confidant 'Catturd' Turns on Twitter Boss". Mediaite. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
  19. ^ Binder, Matt (October 28, 2022). "'Chief Twit' Elon Musk's first act: Personal customer support for right-wing trolls". Mashable. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  20. ^ Tiffany, Kaitlyn (January 17, 2023). "Elon Musk Can't Solve Twitter's 'Shadowbanning' Problem". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  21. ^ Baragona, Justin (November 2, 2022). "Sorry, Elon! Catturd Turns on Musk, Admits to Being '100% Wrong' About Him". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  22. ^ Binder, Matt (November 2, 2022). "Elon Musk has owned Twitter for less than a week. Conservatives are already canceling him". Mashable. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  23. ^ Massie, Graeme (November 4, 2022). "'Catturd' Twitter account highlighted by Elon Musk turns on Tesla billionaire". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 18, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  24. ^ Bharade, Aditi (March 28, 2023). "Twitter is secretly boosting 35 VIP users including Lebron James, AOC, catturd2, and Ben Shapiro: report". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  25. ^ Madarang, Charisma (March 28, 2023). "Twitter's Secret VIP List Is Getting Preferential Treatment: Report". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  26. ^ Fung, Katherine (November 17, 2023). "King of MAGA Twitter Turns on Republicans". Newsweek. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
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