DC Draino Delivers His Message, Changing the World, One Meme at a Time

By Emma Jimenez

The great battle against misinformation is currently being fought in the world of social media. Many social media users no longer have social media primarily to connect with their loved ones online; but, are also now heavily relying on it to consume political and social information. According to the most recent Pew Research study done in 2018, one-in-five adults said they often obtain their news from varies social media outlets. 72% of the public uses some type of social media. Roughly three-quarters of Facebook users – and around six-in-ten Instagram users – visit these sites at least once a day.

When it comes to social media influencers, they have shown to have the ability to reach out to a large audience on their platforms. Social media influencers, unlike celebrities, come across as more genuine and relatable to their audience. Social media Influencers have had the ability to use big tech platforms to communicate to the world a message that, outside the closed society of celebrities and political insiders, wouldn’t be broadcast to a big enough audience for them to be known beyond their immediate circle.

These influencers have the ability to persuade their followers to challenge information provided to them by the mainstream news media. They accomplish this by virtue of their authenticity and passion for certain topics. The most important element is the fact that they are truly independent and not controlled by special interests.

Rogan O’Handley, who is best known as “Dc_Draino” on all his social media platforms, has one of the largest conservative Instagram political meme pages on social media. He has a social media following well in excess of a million as of the date of this publication.

O’Handley has made it a full-time mission to expose the mainstream news media’s lies through something as simple as “memes.” According to O’Handley memes are a powerful way of communication in the world of social media. He describes them as “quick bites of information with a sense of humor behind them.”

O’Handley shared with Politifix that, before becoming an influencer, he was an entertainment attorney working in Hollywood and living in Los Angeles CA. When he first created his political meme page it was in support of President Trump. According to O’Handley he saw how the mainstream news media negatively portrayed President Trump and wanted to create a page to show that he had supporters from all over the country.

At first, O’Handley hid his identity from his following. He was a proud supporter behind the scenes and kept his support for President Trump a secret to avoid conflict with his peers and colleagues. O’Handley says that supporting President Trump in secret frustrated him, but the fear of being blacklisted and losing those closest to him was not something he was emotionally prepared for at the time. He stated that by staying silent to protect his career it felt “tyrannical.”  O’Handley’s page “blew up” with a large increase in followers and popularity after only a few months. It was then that he decided to finally reveal his identity.

Living in the state of California as an outspoken conservative Trump Supporter, and now being a well-known political figure, O’Handley knew he could no longer stay there. He no longer felt safe. He left his career, his home, and turned down lucrative job offers to focus full-time on growing his platform.

For O’Handley it was to either “Pursue personal gain or stand up for what is right.” – which was “standing up for President Trump and the constitution.” He made the bold decision to move to Florida and decided to focus on growing his social media following from there. To him, Trump is the last great chance to save America from socialism.

O’Handley has built a reputation for himself on his knowledge and expertise on certain political issues effecting average everyday American citizens. His work on social media has earned him the recognition of President Donald J. Trump. President Trump invited O’Handley to the White House to attend the Social Media Summit on July 11, 2019. At the event, President Trump acknowledge the work of hundreds of conservative social media influencers in combating the online narrative about his presidency and the fight for his re-election. O’Handley describes the experience as one of the highest honors by a man that he gave up everything to fully support.

“Being recognized by President Trump further validated that everything I had sacrificed had not gone in vain.” Stated O’Handley.

O’Handley encourages young Americans and especially new upcoming political social media influencers to take a public stand and fight for what they believe in. “Influential allies on social media are stronger than the mainstream news media,” stated O’Handley.

OHandley’s message to young conservatives today:

“If you won’t stand up for what you believe in now when will you? Freedom is always worth defending. Justice is always worth fighting for. Truth is always worth sharing. This is our time to fight for America. If we don’t do it now we will lose this country forever.”

//pf