Stephen Miller’s White House Intern Flashed The ‘White Power’ Sign

Milo Yiannopoulos making the “white power” gesture. Image by Twitter

By Ari Feldman December 29, 2017

Jack Breuer held up a hand signal used by far right figures and white nationalists. Image by facebook

Instead of giving a thumbs up, as directed by President Donald Trump, former White House intern Jack Breuer flashed the distinctive “white power” hand signal used by many prominent white nationalists, the Daily Mail reported.

The gesture has been used by far-right conspiracy theorists like Milo Yiannopoulos, Mike Cernovich and Laura Loomer, as well as white nationalists like Richard Spencer. Subtler than a “sieg heil” Nazi salute, the white power signal, when made with the right hand facing the camera, supposedly makes a “W” with the three outstretched fingers and a “P” with the thumb and forefinger.

The gesture started as an elaborate internet hoax, or troll, concocted by users of the anonymous internet forum 4chan. But it has now has taken on a life of its own as a kind of shibboleth for white nationalists and their far right sympathizers.

Milo Yiannopoulos making the “white power” gesture. Image by Twitter

The picture — a “class photo” of the dozens of White House interns — was mailed out in seasons greetings cards before Christmas.

“It is a distinct symbol known in alt-right circles and what makes it worse is that he is doing it in the East Room just below the portrait of George Washington,” another White House intern told the Daily Mail.

Breuer worked as an intern for Stephen Miller, Trump’s senior adviser for policy. Miller has been the driving force behind Trump’s Muslim bans and other immigration reforms.

Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at feldman@forward.com. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO