Featured Image Credit: Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics
A group of even the most loyal Republican supporters have seemingly turned against the president following a controversial new partnership between the Trump administration and a data analytics firm.
According to a New York Times article published this week, the 78-year-old's team of politicians have recently made the decision to partner up with software compare Palantir.
The Colorado-based firm, co-founded by Trump supporter Peter Thiel, agreed to the contracted collaboration on the basis of the amplified power it would give to the father-of-five.
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The move was reportedly made on the basis of the Trump administration having access to a new compilation of data on all American citizens.
The database would be made using information provided by, and having been obtained by, a group of federal agencies.
The new partnership would therefore be handing the president an unprecedented amount of surveillance power.
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Naturally, the decision has sparked national outrage - not just amongst left-leaning Democrats, but amongst thousands of Trump's former fans.
Many Americans now live in fear about the growing influence of technology in the States, specifically with regards to how their personal and professional data will be managed.
Taking to social media, many have questioned whether the move will affect their right to privacy, as well as their civil liberties.
Expressing their feeling of betrayal, one die-hard Trump supporter with the username @ThePatriotVoice hit out: "People are so quick to suggest that I flipped on Trump...No, no, no...I didn't flip on Trump. TRUMP FLIPPED ON US."
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They continued: "I'm just not willing to continue living in a LIE, and I will tell you the unfortunate TRUTH about it."
Another of Trump's previous supporters, self-professed white nationalist and far-right voter Nick Fuentes even chimed in on the debate.
Also taking to X (formerly Twitter), he described the administration's new partnership as 'the ultimate betrayal' of Trump's 'own people'.
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Fuentes wrote: "Feeding every 'MAGA extremist' into an AI database controlled by a CIA/Mossad cutout. Seriously, if Palantir isn't the deep state, then what is?"
He also shared a scathing video to Rumble, voicing further complaints: "They are tracking everybody that criticized Israel, everybody that interacts with somebody that's criticising Israel, and whether you're on a visa or not, whether you're a citizen or not, whether you're brown or not, Christian or Muslim, they're putting you in the Palantir database."
Fuentes continued: "They're putting you on the enemies list. If you don't see a problem with that...".
Also chiming in on the debate on X, another previous Republican supporter wrote: "I'm beginning to think it started when DJT walked down that escalator, before 2016."
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Defending the potential power that the partnership gives to Trump, Cody Venzke - senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) - also spoke to press on Monday.
"Shady, centralised dossiers on citizens are foundational for attacking civil rights and civil liberties—but paper files have long been replaced by a mishmash of electronic forms, biometrics, and data bought off data brokers," he claimed.
"AI platforms like those built by Palantir are the key to pulling together the many data points the government has on each of us—your political donations, governmental benefits, movements, and perhaps firearm records, could someday be a single click away for dozens of governmental agencies."
Palantir also supplied the New York Times with a statement on the matter.
"We act as a data processor, not a data controller," a spokesperson for the firm claimed.
"Our software and services are used under direction from the organisations that license our products: these organisations define what can and cannot be done with their data; they control the Palantir accounts in which analysis is conducted."