Meechan’s tweet ultimately received slightly more than 10,000 retweets. On June 16, Meechan published a video announcing that he was joining the moribund party “as a free-speech warrior” who could bring in younger voters. Meechan declined to comment to The Daily Beast, saying he would only answer questions if they could be livestreamed on his YouTube channel.

Benjamin, a self-described “classical liberal” who’s gained internet fame for his attacks on liberals and feminists under the handle “Sargon of Akkad,” joined in, saying he was joining UKIP as a “Trumpian protest fuck you to everyone.” And Watson, an employee of Alex Jones’ conspiracy website Infowars, claimed that joining UKIP is “the new counter-culture.”

“Take over UKIP for the banter?” Watson tweeted. “How hard can it be?”

UKIP has struggled in the past to keep far-right figures out of the party, responding with a ban on members of the English Defense League, a group of street protesters who oppose “Islamization.” But UKIP leader Gerard Batten called Islam a “death cult” earlier this year, marking a further drift rightward.