Patriot Mobile

[[File:Patriot Mobile website.png|thumb|right|190px|You'd be forgiven to mistake this for an in-game parody website in ''[[Grand Theft Auto|Grand Theft Auto V]]''.]]
{{christianity}}
'''Patriot Mobile''' is an [[United States|American]] far-right {{wpl|mobile virtual network operator}} (MVNO) established in 2015 by [[fundamentalist|fundie]] activist Chris Wilson. As with the later but unrelated [[Freedom Phone]] venture, it is marketed towards a [[conservative]] [[Christian]] audience, i.e., [[Fun:Jesusland|Real Americans™]], hence the slogan "America’s only Christian conservative wireless service provider." and "The same great nationwide coverage [[Bullshit|without funding Big Mobile and the causes of the Left]]".

It is a classic example of [[Poe's Law]]: with its theme of "[[American exceptionalism|patriotism]]" and "[[freedom]]" along with the use of American national symbolism and red-white-and-blue, as well as its core belief that "[[The United States as a Christian nation|America was founded as a Christian nation]]",<ref name="nationunderGod">[https://twitter.com/PatriotMobile/status/1518679492817993736?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet Patriot Mobile on Twitter: "America was founded as a Christian nation. #JohnAdams #FoundingFathers]</ref> one might think this could be either an elaborate joke to make conservatives look more clownish or something out of a typical political [[satire]] piece from ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' (whose ridicule of both left- and right-wing political views are a recurring gag throughout the series). It is, however, sadly real and operational, as can be seen from the reviews (many of which are negative)<ref>[https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/grapevine/profile/mobile-phone-service/patriot-mobile-0825-235979722/customer-reviews Patriot Mobile - Reviews - Better Business Bureau® Profile]</ref> and its online store.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220412075823/https://shop.patriotmobile.com/pages/select-your-phone Choose from the latest devices or bring your own. – patriotmobile]</ref><ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitAmericansSay/comments/870ktv/shitamericanssell_patriotic_mobile_plans/ ShitAmericansSell: patriotic mobile plans]</ref> It’s one of countless overpriced MVNOs using {{wpl|T-Mobile}} and {{wpl|AT&T}} towers, nothing special, not to mention that at least one former employee has complained about open [[homophobia]] and [[racism]] in their offices.<ref>[https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Patriot-Mobile-Reviews-E2154574.htm?sort.sortType=RD&sort.ascending=false&filter.iso3Language=eng Patriot Mobile Reviews - Glassdoor]</ref> The company is estimated to have just under 100,000 subscribers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Bloomberg Wire |date=2022-10-14 |title=T-Mobile's connection to Grapevine-based Patriot Mobile sparks a backlash |url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2022/10/14/t-mobiles-connection-to-grapevine-based-patriot-mobile-sparks-a-backlash/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20221014171253/https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2022/10/14/t-mobiles-connection-to-grapevine-based-patriot-mobile-sparks-a-backlash/ |archive-date=2022-10-14 |access-date=2024-05-22 |work=The Dallas Morning News}}</ref>

Basically, it's a [[PAC]]-slash-hate group fronting themselves as a telecom provider.

==Yeehaw!==
===Mixed nuts===
[[File:Patriot Mobile Dana Loesch booth.jpg|thumb|120px|left|Your political lifestyleism at work.]]
Besides veterans organizations and charities, groups of note whom the telecom provider supports include the [[National Rifle Association]], the [[Nationalist pseudohistory|pseudohistorical]] advocacy group [[WallBuilders]], and [[Turning Point USA]], among other [[far-right]] [[wingnuts]].<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/ToiletPaperUSA/comments/pir4g1/til_there_is_a_mvno_called_patriot_mobile_and/ TIL: There is a MVNO called "Patriot Mobile", and take look at one of the think tanks these sucker's phone bills go to...]</ref> They are also affiliated with [[Alliance Defending Freedom]],<ref>[https://patriotmobile.com/alliance-defending-freedom/ Alliance Defending Freedom] ''Patriot Mobile''.</ref> an organization that the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] designates as an [[Homophobia|anti-LGBT hate group]] and is known to have opposed measures intended to curb the spread of [[COVID-19]],<ref>Koeninger, Kevin (2021-11-04). [https://www.courthousenews.com/conservative-news-outlet-asks-court-to-block-employer-vaccine-mandate/ "Right-wing news outlet asks court to block employer vaccine mandate".] Retrieved 2022-03-20.</ref> as well as [[Family Research Council]], also a designated hate group by the SPLC.<ref>Eichler, Alex. [https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/11/13-new-organizations-added-to-anti-gay-hate-groups-list/343292/ "13 New Organizations Added to Anti-Gay 'Hate Groups' List"]. The Wire via The Atlantic. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170315000604/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/11/13-new-organizations-added-to-anti-gay-hate-groups-list/343292/ Archived] from the original on March 15, 2017.</ref> Patriot Mobile themselves oppose [[vaccine]] mandates,<ref>[https://archive.ph/ix2kt Reminder: Patriot Mobile will NEVER force our employees to get vaccinated. This is so unAmerican.] by Patiort Mobile (10:48 AM · Feb 2, 2022) ''Twitter'' (archived from 13 Jun 2022 17:34:12 UTC).</ref> believing it to be "unconstitutional" and an infringement of "their employees' individual liberty", apparently ignoring the fact that similar restrictions on public health concerns such as [[smoking]] have been in place before and was only questioned by tobacco companies and their [[lobby]] groups as well as [[libertarians]], and that health crises of dire concern far outweigh any issues about [[freedom of speech]] and personal liberties.

In 2023, the company received backlash for donating a pizza gift certificate to a police department,<ref>[https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-morning-news/gift-from-conservative-christian-patriot-mobile-to-grapevine-police-sparks-backlash/3171275/ Gift From Conservative Christian Patriot Mobile to Grapevine Police Sparks Backlash]</ref> due in part to efforts by Patriot Mobile to indoctrinate schools into their canards about [[critical race theory]] and the [[woke]] movement which they perceive to be a "danger" to students.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/-christian-cell-company-patriot-mobile-took-four-texas-school-boards-rcna44583 How a far-right, Christian cellphone company ‘took over’ four Texas school boards]</ref> 

===Ammu-Nation===
{{cquote|The existence of evil is one of the [[Bullshit|very best reasons]] to arm, law abiding citizens.|||[[Donald Trump]]}}
[[File:Patriot Mobile 2A tweet.jpg|thumb|105px|left|2A is love, 2A is life.]]
Bizarrely (or should we say unsurprisingly?), a core tenet of the wireless provider is to uphold the [[Second Amendment]] to the core, perhaps in [[Gun nut|a borderline fetishistic fashion]] — more than any sane telecom company (or any company for that matter) would admit publicly,<ref name="covfefe">[https://xcancel.com/PatriotMobile/status/1530420080764395522 Patriot Mobile on Twitter: "Thank you President Trump for defending our Second Amendment rights!"]</ref><ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20220523183017/https://twitter.com/PatriotMobile/status/1528805397368381441 Patriot Mobile on Twitter: "You can count on Patriot Mobile to ALWAYS defend the Second Amendment"]</ref> arguing that the recent rash in [[mass shooting]]s and the resurgence of the [[Taliban]] has left Americans vulnerable, thus the need for [[Fun:Weapon of gun|moar gunz]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220527154155/https://patriotmobile.com/constitutional-carry-protecting-the-2nd-amendment/ Constitutional Carry: Protecting the 2nd Amendment]</ref> And isn't it [[ironic]] that they'd hold life sacred by shunning the act of [[abortion]] and shaming those who do so, and yet not give a damn about the rash of spree shootings across the country and celebrate the very same culture of death they're supposed to despise?{{nofact}}

Defiantly enough, Patriot Mobile attended the annual NRA meeting along with dozens of other [[gun nut]] luminaries, all despite intense protests denouncing the lobby group in light of the {{wpl|Robb Elementary School shooting}} (which left more than a dozen schoolchildren suffering from a horrific death), not to mention the obvious tastelessness and insensitivity of holding a gun show soon after a tragic mass shooting.<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-nra-convention-212dfd1b57474f1ab208d4a72521a010 NRA speakers unshaken on gun rights after school massacre]. Associated Press.</ref> They even dared to thank [[Donald Trump]] for [[Bullshit|"defending our Second Amendment rights"]].<ref name="covfefe"/>

==The irony is not lost==
===Selling your enemies' goods===
[[File:Patriot Mobile phone lineup.png|thumb|120px|left|Have fun expressing your patriotism with a phone from those dirty liberal scumbags bent at taking away your freedom.]]
All things considered, they cannot operate on their own without having to use hardware and infrastructure developed and marketed by "Big Mobile" corporations such as {{wpl|T-Mobile}} (using former {{wpl|Sprint Corporation|Sprint}} towers which they originally leased their lines from)<ref>[https://bestmvno.com/mvnos/patriot-mobile/ Patriot Mobile In 2022: What You Need To Know - BestMVNO]</ref> and devices from companies with perceived [[progressive]] ideologies such as [[Apple]] (iPhone) and [[Google]] (Android).<ref>[https://fortune.com/2017/10/17/apple-amazon-2ndvote-political-leanings/ Apple, Amazon, Google Graded on Political Leanings: 2ndVote]</ref> Not to mention that they offer [[5G]] coverage alongside 4G LTE, which is a little odd considering opposition to the cellular standard by some due to irrational fears about 5G radiation and its (unsubstantiated) link to COVID-19 as propagated by some of those whom Patriot Mobile caters to.

Unsurprisingly, T-Mobile's association with Patriot Mobile led to some backlash from those who did not take kindly to the MNVO's yee-haw antics, as more than a thousand signed an online petition demanding T-Mobile to cut ties with Patriot Mobile.<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-14/t-mobile-faces-backlash-on-ties-to-conservative-carrier-in-texas T-Mobile Faces Backlash on Ties to Conservative Carrier in Texas]</ref> The American subsidiary of {{wpl|Deutsche Telekom}} remains unfazed, however, as they state that they merely rent excess capacity over to smaller companies regardless of platform or ideology.<ref>[https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2022/10/14/t-mobiles-connection-to-grapevine-based-patriot-mobile-sparks-a-backlash/ T-Mobile’s connection to Grapevine-based Patriot Mobile sparks a backlash]</ref>

===Nation under God?===
[[File:Patriot-Mobile-Everything-You-Should-Know.jpg|thumb|185px|right|The irony is not lost when the providers you lease your coverage from are from the same left-leaning corporations you so despise.]]
Also ironic is their insistence that [[The United States as a Christian nation|the United States is a "Christian" nation]],<ref name="nationunderGod"/> contrary to what the [[Founding Fathers]] established during the [[American Revolution]]. Many of them were either [[deist]]s, lapsed Christians, and/or [[Freemason]]s who valued [[secularism]] over [[dogma]]tic or theocratic screeds, making Patriot Mobile's beliefs laughably bad if not terribly misguided.<ref>Secular Web: [http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/farrell_till/myth.html The Cristian Nation Myth] by Farrell Till, ''The Secular Web''.</ref>

They also [[Dominionism|argued]] in a blog post that [[Bullshit|"Church and State CANNOT be Separated"]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220516222718/https://patriotmobile.com/church-and-state-cannot-be-separated/ Church and State CANNOT be Separated]</ref> which is contradicted by a passage they quoted verbatim about the [[Establishment Clause]], which, as we all know, prevents any bias towards a particular faith or the degeneration into a [[Theocracy|theocratic regime]]. They then go on a long-winded rant about how those dirty, secular goons tear down religious monuments and ban public expression of religious beliefs while [[Doublethink|slyly trying to maintain]] that it's [[Religious freedom|free for everyone to express their beliefs]] (or lack thereof). Basically, it's just their own [[persecution complex]] at work.

===Where are your principles?===
Even more ironic (and disturbing) are allegations by a number of employees regarding the company's higher-ups, such as when a former employee accused chief technology officer (CTO) Everett Trost of grooming and [[rape]], threatening to terminate her should she refuse to undergo an [[abortion]], and when former customer service manager Rodney Banks was fired for lashing out at the rampant [[racism]] within the company's offices. The company is also alleged to have engaged in tax evasion and other forms of financial fraud.<ref name="fww">[https://www.fwweekly.com/2023/03/15/shut-out/ Shut Out - Fort Worth Weekly]</ref>

===Pwned!===
In May 2024, TechCrunch revealed that Patriot Mobile was subject to a data breach that included subscribers' full names, email addresses, home ZIP codes, and account PINs. An unidentified hacker provided the tech website with samples of data they stole from the provider, apparently due to a bug on the Patriot Mobile website which allowed otherwise private information to be accessed by third parties.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Franceschi-Bicchierai |first=Lorenzo |date=2024-05-21 |title=Conservative cell carrier Patriot Mobile hit by data breach |url=https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/conservative-cell-carrier-patriot-mobile-hit-by-data-breach/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240521163720/https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/21/conservative-cell-carrier-patriot-mobile-hit-by-data-breach/ |archive-date=2024-05-21 |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=[[TechCrunch]] |language=en-US}}</ref> According to TechCrunch, a bug on Patriot Mobile’s public website also appeared to be leaking some of the same personal information.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Fadilpašić">{{Cite web |last=Fadilpašić |first=Sead |date=2024-05-22 |title=America's "only conservative cell carrier" hit by data breach |url=https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/americas-only-conservative-cell-carrier-hit-by-data-breach |access-date=2024-11-14 |website=TechRadar |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Alt-right glossary#Alt-tech|Alt-tech]]
*[[Freedom Phone]]
*[[National Rifle Association]], the powers-that-be that Patriot Mobile venerates

==External links==
*[https://patriotmobile.com Official website]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Anti-abortion activists]]
[[Category:Anti-vaccination movement]]
[[Category:Christian commerce]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:COVID-19 denialists]]
[[Category:Fundamentalist Christian organizations]]
[[Category:Gun nuts]]
[[Category:Hate groups]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:Sexism]]
[[Category:Technology]]
[[Category:Theocracy]]
[[Category:United States politics]]
[[Category:We're on a mission from God]]
[[Category:White supremacy]]
[[Category:Alt-tech]]

Categories: Anti-abortion activists, Anti-vaccination movement, Christian commerce, Conspiracy theorists, COVID-19 denialists, Fundamentalist Christian organizations, Gun nuts, Hate groups, Homophobia, Misnomers, Racism, Right-wing activists, Sexism, Technology, Theocracy, United States politics, We're on a mission from God, White supremacy, Alt-tech