Overview

Leonel Moreno, known for his now-deleted TikTok page @Leitooficial_25, is a TikToker and influencer originally from Venezuela who now makes videos about being a migrant in the U.S. Leonel Moreno has come under fire for supposedly helping migrants to find empty American houses and invoke squatter's rights. Moreno is also known for calling President Joe Biden "Mi papa" and sharing tips on how to use government welfare programs to avoid work. Moreno became the subject of criticism and scrutiny in conservative internet circles in early 2024, eventually being contacted by the authorities that he claimed were threatening to take away his 1-year-old daughter who is often featured in his videos.

Background

Leonel Moreno began posting videos to his Instagram^[1] page @leitooficial_26 on September 12th, 2023. The video is a repost from his older TikTok account and shows him talking to his followers from the front seat of an empty police vehicle.^[2] In the months since his initial post, Moreno has primarily made content about how he migrated to the U.S. and how he survives in the country without a job. In a November 19th post, Moreno shows his followers how to use a fake foot cast in order to make more money begging (shown below).

On February 23rd, 2024, Leonel Moreno^[7] posted a video saying that he is being summoned by American authorities who wish to separate him from his American-born daughter. In the video, a tearful Moreno insisted, "Ustedes muy bien saben queue lo queue yo hagos es contenido," or "You know very well that what I do is content" (seen below).

On March 16th, 2024, Moreno posted a video^[3] to his TikTok and Instagram page encouraging people to invoke American laws about "squatter's rights" to claim empty and dilapidated homes and flip them for a profit. The video gathered over 3 million views on TikTok before Moreno's account was suspended, but it remains live on his Instagram (seen below).

On March 21st, the New York Post shared an article on X^[4] about Leonel Moreno's videos, writing, "TikTokker tells illegal immigrants how to ‘invade’ American homes and invoke squatter’s rights," and gathering 9,000 likes on a post about the creator (seen below).

By March 23rd, 2024, reports about Leonel Moreno's TikTok account being banned began to emerge.^[5][6]

Developments

Various internet users commented on Leonel Moreno's content following increased media coverage on the creator, including a March 23rd, 2024, post by X user @CollinRugg who notably received a response from Elon Musk (seen below). The post gathered over 16,000 likes in two days (seen below, left).

On March 23rd, Musk^[8] also shared the original New York Post article covering Moreno's videos, gathering over 200,000 likes in two days (seen below, right).

Leonel Moreno continued to receive attention and hate from conservative internet users, as seen in a Soyjak-themed video posted by @MeinGottNiles,^[9] showing a Soyjak of Moreno's face being shot out of a canon by a Chudjak and sent flying over a wall with the words "Trump" on it. The post gathered over 2,000 likes in two days (seen below).

https://t.co/ElzTTW2saj pic.twitter.com/irHbzRpJAA

— Frasier Payne (@MeinGottNiles) March 23, 2024

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References