As protests in Iran head into their ninth day, those in the streets have received words of support from President Donald Trump and words of ire from the country’s theocratic government. In the recesses of the internet, however, the far right are split, asking themselves — are the protests the result of a coup orchestrated by George Soros and Barack Obama’s "deep state," or a repudiation of it? The debate, raging from Twitter to YouTube and the white-supremacist-preferred Gab social network, has exposed ideological divides within the far-right political movement that helped propel Trump into office.

At least 21 people have died in the crackdown in Iran, as Tehran moves against the thousands of protesters who have been in the streets for more than a week in the largest set of demonstrations since 2009.

The protests have drawn an array of support from across the US and international political spectrum, even providing a rare opportunity for President Trump, who promised “great support” for the people of Iran, to agree with former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who lauded the demonstrators for “protesting for the freedom and future they deserve.”

On Dec. 30, just as protests began to spread throughout the country, even reaching some of the more conservative middle-class cities from where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei draws his support, far-right figure Stefan Molyneux published a YouTube video where he tearfully called on his followers to stand behind the Iranian protesters.