One participant in the groups described them as a “Republic of Letters,” a reference to the long-distance intellectual correspondence of the 17th century. Others often invoked European salon culture.

I genuinely think every participant in these group chats should be ******** ** *****. They think that they're intellectuals but their positions are so weak that they can't express them in public for fear of the "woke mob".

The political journalist Mark Halperin [...] said it was remarkable that “the left seems largely unaware that some of the smartest and most sophisticated Trump supporters in the nation from coast to coast are part of an overlapping set of text chains that allow their members to share links, intel, tactics, strategy, and ad hoc assignments. Also: clever and invigorating jokes. And they do this (not kidding) like 20 hours a day, including on weekends.” He called their influence “substantial.”

A bunch of middle aged men who think PC has gone too far are in group chats making jokes that they don't want the general public to see? I could never have guessed.