A dating app set for release next month geared toward right-leaning singles is being ridiculed online for the perceived racism and extremism of political conservatives.
The Right Stuff posted an announcement Wednesday to Twitter that the dating app will offer conservative daters a way to connect, with "no pronouns necessary." The app follows other ventures intended to give conservatives online experiences free of strictures that accompany more mainstream platforms. Like its predecessors, The Right Stuff is getting taunted.
"Remember, if you're interested in someone on The White Stuff, just swipe Reich," author and comedian Richard Jeter said in a tweet, referencing the Nazi-led German Third Reich.
Remember, if you're interested in someone on The White Stuff, just swipe Reich. https://t.co/BZYIAB6iwm
— Richard Jeter (@MilesToGo13) August 11, 2022
Ryann McEnany, younger sister of Kayleigh McEnany, the press secretary to former President Donald Trump, offered the first public glimpse of The Right Stuff in a video released Wednesday, promising the app will get conservatives in the "right dating pool with people who share the same values and beliefs as you."
"We're sorry that you've had to endure years of bad dates and wasted time with people that don't see the world our way—the right way," McEnany says in the video.
McEnany explains in the video how users will build a profile on The Right Stuff, much like other dating apps, that other users can "like" and use to strike up a conversation if the feeling is mutual. The app includes a unique feature that allows users to create their ideal date for potential love interests, McEnany said in the video.
The Right Stuff is invite-only and free to use, she said. "Ladies" can get premium accounts by inviting friends, but "gentlemen" have to pay for upgraded features, she said.
"And by the way, those are the only two options: ladies and gentlemen," said McEnany, taking a swipe at the array of gender options that are now common on dating apps and elsewhere.
Jason CranfordTeague, a teacher and designer, reacted with a tweet, "I'm glad they have a safe space. That's really nice."
"Come for the Pro-Trump dating app that uses the name of a white supremacist group, stay for the example of a snowboarding guy you can date who is 2,130 miles away," Michael Edison Hayden, senior investigative reporter with the Southern Poverty Law Center, said in a tweet, referencing one of the photos shown in the video announcing the app.
Previously, more mainstream dating apps have come under criticism for publicly embracing left-leaning political stances. OKCupid in 2018 was blocked from putting up political advertisements in the Washington, D.C., Metro transit system with slogans like "Down to Filter Out the Far Right." Dating app Tinder in 2016 introduced 37 new gender-identity options after facing charges of transphobia.
Trump earlier this year launched Truth Social, a social media network unshackled by the content standards of other platforms and was introduced after he was permanently banned from Twitter for inciting violence.
McEnany's Twitter profile picture uses the same one from Trump's now-banned account. Her profile also includes a video of Trump dancing at a rally with the words, "My POTUS."
Newsweek has reached out to The Right Stuff for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jake Thomas is a Newsweek night reporter based in Portland, Oregon. His focus is U.S. national politics, crime and public ... Read more
