Facebook VR founder secretly backed pro-Trump group

The creator of Facebook’s Oculus Rift virtual reality venture, Palmer Luckey, has been secretly backing a group supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump that aims to influence via “shitposting” and “meme magic.” 

The group, called Nimble America, announced its debut on the “The_Donald” subreddit earlier in the week, in a now deleted statement. In the statement, group said it was a pro-Trump non-profit “dedicated to shitposting in real life.” Shitposting is the practice of posting messages and memes online in an attempt to aggravate users and in some instances disparage its subject.  

{mosads}Nimble America had previously purchased a billboard outside of Pittsburgh with “Too Big To Jail” and a cartoon version of Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic opponent.

“We conquered Reddit and drive narrative on social media, conquered the MSM, now it’s time to get our most delicious memes in front of Americans whether they like it or not,” a member of Nimble America posted on the introductory Reddit thread. 

The group plans to fund its operations “mainly through selling merchandise” like t-shirts, according to a post from a representative on the introductory thread.

A member of the group called, NimbleRichMan — whose Reddit account is now deleted — had offered in a post to match donations to Nimble America for 48 hours. 

“For the next 48 hours, I will match your donations dollar for dollar,” NimbleRichMan wrote on Reddit. “Donate $10 and I will match you by flying my jet a minute less. Donate a hundred and I will match you by skipping a glass of scotch. Donate a thousand and I will match by putting off the tire change on my car. Am I bragging? Will people be offended? Yes, but those people already hate Donald. They cannot stand to see successful people who are proud of their success.”

“Let’s generate some success of our own. Make America great again with your meme magic, centipedes of The Donald!”

The Daily Beast confirmed that NimbleRichMan was Palmer Luckey, the creator of Facebook’s Oculus Rift. 

“I’ve got plenty of money,” Luckey told the Daily Beast. “Money is not my issue. I thought it sounded like a real jolly good time.”

The Daily Beast reported that Luckey was listed as vice president of Nimble America, but the listing has since been deleted from their website. The only positions currently shown on the website are president, social media and secretary, held by three individuals. No last names or other identifying details are provided. 

Luckey initially became involved with Nimble America some time after meeting Milo Yiannopoulos, a tech editor at Breitbart. Yiannopoulos would be able to give instant credence to then-anonymous Luckey and Nimble America on Reddit as they sought donations.

Luckey sold his virtual reality company to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014. His current net worth is estimated to be $700 million. He, along with Peter Thiel, are the highest profile individuals in Silicon Valley to publicly support Trump.