The Modern Witch Hunt: How TPUSA UO Fabricates Rhetoric for Rage-Bait

On a university campus, student life should center on critical thinking, academic growth, and civil discourse.

Yet, political organizations like Turning Point USA at the University of Oregon (TPUSA UO) continue to rely on a different tactic: sensationalized rage-bait, fabricated characterizations, and targeted public smear campaigns.

A recent reel posted by TPUSA UO titled "WITCH WANTS TO SHUT DOWN ALEX STEIN'S CAMPUS SPEECH" provides a textbook study in modern digital defamation.

Without conducting basic verification, asking a single question, or doing any background research, the creators attached a false, sensational label to a student protest participant.

To set the record straight: I am an author who was wearing a costume while rallying for a campus demonstration.

To turn an author in a costume into a "self-proclaimed literal witch" to generate clicks, outrage, and harassment is not journalism—it is libel, defamation, and willful propaganda.

1. Zero Research, Maximum Sensationalism: The Mechanics of Libel

Defamation relies on publishing false statements presented as fact that cause harm to an individual's reputation. By falsely claiming that a woman and an author is a "self-proclaimed witch" intent on shutting down free speech, TPUSA UO deliberately crafted an inflammatory narrative out of thin air.

When media organizations or political activist groups create content designed to provoke hostile public reactions against private individuals, they cross the line from political commentary into personal attack.

• The Reality: An author wearing a costume while rallying for a public protest to express political speech.

• The Fabrication: A malicious caricature designed to serve as an easy target for online ridicule.

No interview was requested. No background check was performed. The truth was sacrificed entirely to serve a pre-packaged narrative.

2. The Historical Paradigm: Salem in the Digital Age

The urge to invent an "other"—a scapegoat upon whom a group can project its fears, moral panic, and outrage—is an old human impulse.

During the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, individuals were targeted, ostracized, and condemned based on baseless rumors, mass hysteria, and spectral evidence. The accusers did not care about factual accuracy or the humanity of the accused; they cared about reinforcing panic and establishing authority through fear.

What TPUSA UO demonstrated in this reel is the same underlying psychological phenomenon:

Creation of a false monster > Projection of moral panic > Public incitement.

How they create mass hysteria.

In the 17th century, the weapon was fear-mongering from the pulpit; today, it is short-form social media reels designed to trigger algorithmic rage.

3. Why Digital Scapegoating Does Not Belong on Academic Campuses

Universities are meant to be spaces where ideas are tested against evidence, facts, and rigorous debate. When campus organizations resort to manufacturing lies about fellow students for social media clout, they degrade the academic environment for everyone.

No student should have to navigate their education while subjected to targeted online harassment campaigns driven by falsified, sensationalized stories.

When political groups rely on character assassination rather than substance, they reveal the emptiness of their own positions.

As the quote goes regarding hypocrisy and judgment: cast the first stone only after you are free of deceit.

Fabricating lies about a student to fuel an outrage machine is inherently corrupt.

Conclusion: Demanding Accountability

We must hold campus organizations accountable when they trade truth for virality. Falsifying identity, spreading propaganda, and turning students into caricatures for political gain is unacceptable in higher education.

It is time to recognize these tactics for what they truly are: modern-day witch hunts built on digital lies.