Travis Bates

[Garand Thumb @GarandThumb1]

I’ve been seeing a lot of trends among social media creators recently and figured I’d put out a short writeup on a few common shiesty tactics to look out for.

1. Cult of authenticity — building a brand around “I’m the only real one.”

2. Messiah complex marketing — presenting yourself as the sole truth-teller or savior.

3. Anti-establishment branding — gaining trust primarily by attacking everyone else as compromised.

4. Purity signaling — constantly emphasizing your own incorruptibility. (Differs from Disclosure, “Here are my possible biases.” vs Purity signaling, “I don’t have biases, and everyone else does.”)

5. Trust monopoly — trying to convince followers that all other sources are compromised except you.

[NASA Artemis @NASAArtemis]

Earthset.

The Artemis II crew captured this view of an Earthset on April 6, 2026, as they flew around the Moon. The image is reminiscent of the iconic Earthrise image taken by astronaut Bill Anders 58 years earlier as the Apollo 8 crew flew around the Moon.

[Mike Joy @mikejoy500]

This should help… a lot! Save Greenville-Pickens Speedway!

[Dale Earnhardt Jr. @DaleJr]

If @GPSspeedway1 can survive, the @CARSTour will be first in line to return and I'll be the first entry.

[#ClemsonNFL @ClemsonPros]

Its a bowl game 😭

[Clemson Football @ClemsonFB]

🏆: "So good to be back home."

[Larry Williams @LarryWilliamsTI]

I'm not crying, you're crying. Rest easy, Tron.

[Jamie Bambrick @j_bambrick]

My dear American friends,

We British Christians would get excited when, once a year, Queen Elizabeth would make a mild but sincere reference to the love of Jesus Christ in her Christmas address.

In Charlie Kirks' Memorial service, watched by tens of millions, I just heard:
- Multiple clear presentations of the gospel from men like @robmccoyus and @DrFrankTurek with clear calls to repentance and faith
- Worship songs full of Scripture sung by tens of thousands live and millions at home
- Personal testimonies of lives transformed by the work of Christ and the witness of believers
- Demonstration and explanation of the value of marriage, child-rearing and family
- Calls to Romans 13 for the government to bear the sword for the protection of good and punishment of the wicked
- Declarations of spiritual warfare on the forces of evil and promises to endure no matter the cost
- Calls to be prophets and call the nation to repent
- More Scripture references and Bible readings than I can count
- And a widow publicly forgiving her husband's killer because Christ forgave his killers on the cross.

All of it done before, and by, the most powerful people in your nation and the world.

You guys should be on your knees thanking God for your country. It is a light to the world.

Never stop fighting for it.

[Jared Monroe @TheJaredMonroe]

Many Conservative influencers are desperately chasing clicks, headlines and “exclusives” right now.

Others are spending time memorializing Charlie, donating to TPUSA and supporting his family.

Pay close attention to which ones are which.

[Travis Bates @TravisBates94]

@ClemsonUniv do the right thing. FIRE these professors by the end of the day. We would not even be having this discussion if the roles were reversed.

[Alan Wilson @AGAlanWilson]

🚨 South Carolina’s “political firing” statute (§16-17-560) does not shield professors who glorify assassination. It was written to protect free political thought, not to excuse public employees who celebrate violence.

Clemson, and every public institution in our state, has the authority and responsibility to act. Professors who move from debate to endorsing murder betray their duty as educators and public servants.

The First Amendment protects free speech, but it does not protect threats or the glorification of violence. Our universities must be places of learning, not platforms for radical professors to cheer political assassinations.

[Ralph Norman for Governor @RalphNorman]

If you’re a taxpayer-funded institution in SC and you have employees who are publicly justifying, mocking, or praising the assassination of Charlie Kirk, go ahead and fire them now. Nobody gets a pass, and we won’t allow tax dollars to fund hate!

[Michael Knowles @michaeljknowles]

In the wake of Charlie's assassination, many people are demanding that we redouble our devotion to the "free marketplace of ideas." The call seems at first glance courageous and noble. In reality, it is reckless and impractical. We had an open marketplace of ideas; the Left shot it up.

Not only have extreme leftists committed violence in the marketplace of ideas; more scandalous still, mainstream left-wing voices have cheered and made light of the violence. There can be no open marketplace—of ideas or anything else—under such conditions.

Marketplaces require rules, confidence, and common media of exchange. They require, in other words, order. Liberty requires order. One cannot be both free and undisciplined, for instance, or free and ignorant. We know this philosophically, and we also know it intuitively. It's why we don't let toddlers vote.

What we require now is the reassertion of order. We must insist upon the acceptance of basic truths and moral goods, not as the asymptotic goal of endless debate but as the axiomatic foundation without which debate cannot occur. We must foreclose certain antisocial behaviors and suicidal ideologies. We must, to borrow a phrase from Chesterton, stop "the thought that stops thought."

In practical terms, this means we must stigmatize certain evil ideas and behaviors, and we must ostracize people who insist upon them. More practically, this means that people who persist in such disorder should lose their social standing. In certain cases, they should lose their jobs. There must be consequences.

With any political reform, it is wise to err on the side of caution. The offenses that merit such ostracism should be particularly egregious. A good place to begin would be with those who celebrate the murder of an innocent man.

[Travis Bates @TravisBates94]

This statement is insane. Are there consequences for these professors or not? When I became a student in 2012, it was made clear that Clemson was about Honesty, Integrity, and Respect. The posts from these professors go against all of those values. What is happening to my school?

[Clemson University @ClemsonUniv]

A statement from Clemson University:

[Charlie Kirk @charliekirk11]

It’s all about Jesus.

[Christian Ziegler 🇺🇸 @ChrisMZiegler]

Charlie Kirk has a young family.

Please, please, please pray for Charlie Kirk.

[Clemson Bagman @ExcessDepth]

Check on a friend or family member that’s struggling today. It may make a difference you won’t understand.

[JD Vance @JDVance]

Look, I'm seeing this from the inside, and am admittedly biased towards our president (and my friend), but there's a lot of crazy stuff on social media, so I wanted to address some things directly on the Iran issue:

First, POTUS has been amazingly consistent, over 10 years, that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Over the last few months, he encouraged his foreign policy team to reach a deal with the Iranians to accomplish this goal. The president has made clear that Iran cannot have uranium enrichment. And he said repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways--the easy way or the "other" way.

Second, I've seen a lot of confusion over the issue of "civilian nuclear power" and "uranium enrichment." These are distinct issues. Iran could have civilian nuclear power without enrichment, but Iran rejected that. Meanwhile, they've enriched uranium far above the level necessary for any civilian purpose. They've been found in violation of their non-proliferation obligations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is hardly a rightwing organization.

It's one thing to want civilian nuclear energy. It's another thing to demand sophisticated enrichment capacity. And it's still another to cling to enrichment while simultaneously violating basic non-proliferation obligations and enriching right to the point of weapons-grade uranium.

I have yet to see a single good argument for why Iran needed to enrich uranium well above the threshold for civilian use. I've yet to see a single good argument for why Iran was justified in violating its non-proliferation obligations. I've yet to see a single good pushback against the IAEA's findings.

Meanwhile, the president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military's focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens.

He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president. And of course, people are right to be worried about foreign entanglement after the last 25 years of idiotic foreign policy.

But I believe the president has earned some trust on this issue. And having seen this up close and personal, I can assure you that he is only interested in using the American military to accomplish the American people's goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.

[Travis Bates @TravisBates94]

@apthirteen Took 5 outs to end the inning

[Travis Bates @TravisBates94]

@apthirteen Not only did I think my tv was broken, I saw this post and thought my phone wasn’t working 😂

[Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social @TrumpDailyPosts]

This Holy Week, Christians around the World remember the Crucifixion of God’s Only Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and, on Easter Sunday, we celebrate His Glorious Resurrection and proclaim, as Christians have done for nearly 2,000 years, “HE IS RISEN!”

Through the pain and sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, we saw God’s boundless Love and Devotion to all Humanity and, in that moment of His Resurrection, History was forever changed with the Promise of Everlasting Life.

As we approach this Joyous Easter Sunday, I want to wish Christians everywhere a Happy and very Blessed Holiday. America is a Nation of Believers. We need God, we want God and, with His help, we will make our Nation Stronger, Safer, Greater, more Prosperous, and more United than ever before. Thank you, and HAPPY EASTER!

From Donald Trump Truth Social 04/13/25 08:53 PM