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packman

(16,296 posts) Tue Sep 15, 2020, 08:54 PM Sep 2020

Pro-Trump group pays teens to post online

Source: Chron News

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Charlie Kirk, co-founder and executive director of Turning Point USA,

One tweet claimed coronavirus numbers were intentionally inflated, adding, "It's hard to know what to believe." Another warned, "Don't trust Dr. Fauci."

A Facebook comment argued that mail-in ballots "will lead to fraud for this election," while an Instagram comment amplified the erroneous claim that 28 million ballots went missing in the past four elections.

The messages have been emanating in recent months from the accounts of young people in Arizona seemingly expressing their own views - standing up for President Donald Trump in a battleground state and echoing talking points from his reelection campaign.

Far from representing a genuine social media groundswell, however, the posts are the product of a sprawling yet secretive campaign that experts say evades the guardrails put in place by social media companies to limit online disinformation of the sort used by Russia during the 2016 campaign.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/article/Pro-Trump-group-pays-teens-to-post-online-15569883.php

15 replies

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Highlight:

Pro-Trump group pays teens to post online (Original Post) packman Sep 2020 OP

The sleaze continues RainCaster Sep 2020 #1

Money Thekaspervote Sep 2020 #2

Youngsters sometimes.... paleotn Sep 2020 #9

The lengths they need to go to Hip2bSquare Sep 2020 #3

Their co-founder Bill Montgomery died of COVID IronLionZion Sep 2020 #4

Here is a link to the WaPo report... reACTIONary Sep 2020 #5

Of course. Paid trolls. They have nothing to do with their time and money but bucolic_frolic Sep 2020 #6

I always figured that Charlie Kirk was a total sleazebag. Initech Sep 2020 #7

Kirk is relatively young - what kind of poisonous environment was he raised in? thenelm1 Sep 2020 #11

He is creepy moose65 Sep 2020 #13

The falcon has heard the falconer.... paleotn Sep 2020 #8

Grotesque JDC Sep 2020 #10

Pure evil Blue Owl Sep 2020 #12

The killer quote in the story.... Grins Sep 2020 #14

I always suspected there was a larger home grown troll army than Russian LiberalLovinLug Sep 2020 #15

RainCaster

(10,842 posts)

1. The sleaze continues

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 09:00 PM

Sep 2020

WTF-- why would youngsters want to have DFT reelected? He will screw up their future.

Thekaspervote

(32,715 posts)

2. Money

Reply to RainCaster (Reply #1)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 09:04 PM

Sep 2020

paleotn

(17,884 posts)

9. Youngsters sometimes....

Reply to RainCaster (Reply #1)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 10:07 PM

Sep 2020

can't see past next week.

Hip2bSquare

(291 posts)

3. The lengths they need to go to

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 09:08 PM

Sep 2020

This is new. Down to recruiting teens now?? Voter suppression, dismantling USPS, closing voting stations, Russian trolls and interference, election and voting misinformation from the orange goon and still not enough!!! Send in the teens!

Sending drumpf home to a bankrupt trump tower for good is going to be so so sweet! We must win!

IronLionZion

(45,380 posts)

4. Their co-founder Bill Montgomery died of COVID

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 09:17 PM

Sep 2020

these people are dangerously dumb

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/29/turning-point-usa-founder-dies-coronavirus-complications-387077

reACTIONary

(5,768 posts)

5. Here is a link to the WaPo report...

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 09:46 PM

Sep 2020

"Democracy Dies in Darkness"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/turning-point-teens-disinformation-trump/2020/09/15/c84091ae-f20a-11ea-b796-2dd09962649c_story.html

bucolic_frolic

(43,064 posts)

6. Of course. Paid trolls. They have nothing to do with their time and money but

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 09:46 PM

Sep 2020

think about ways to lower their own taxes and elect those who will lower their taxes.

Initech

(100,043 posts)

7. I always figured that Charlie Kirk was a total sleazebag.

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 09:57 PM

Sep 2020

thenelm1

(851 posts)

11. Kirk is relatively young - what kind of poisonous environment was he raised in?

Reply to Initech (Reply #7)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 10:16 PM

Sep 2020

Last edited Thu Sep 17, 2020, 10:26 PM - Edit history (2)

I remembered his name immediately and his involvement in some type of rat-fucking scheme in New Hampshire. He was involved with Turning Point and per Wiki, "First appearing on November 21, 2016, Turning Point USA also operates a website called Professor Watchlist. Kirk has said the site is dedicated to documenting and exposing college professors who discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values, and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom."

Check him in wiki - either with Turning Point or under his name. Total asshole.

moose65

(3,166 posts)

13. He is creepy

Reply to thenelm1 (Reply #11)

Wed Sep 16, 2020, 08:37 AM

Sep 2020

Usually when I see pictures of him, I wonder if they've been photoshopped! His head is too big for his face (or his face is too small for his head)!

paleotn

(17,884 posts)

8. The falcon has heard the falconer....

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 10:06 PM

Sep 2020

Copying the tactics of their masters in mother Russia.

JDC

(10,117 posts)

10. Grotesque

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 10:15 PM

Sep 2020

Blue Owl

(50,291 posts)

12. Pure evil

Reply to packman (Original post)

Tue Sep 15, 2020, 10:29 PM

Sep 2020

Grins

(7,199 posts)

14. The killer quote in the story....

Reply to packman (Original post)

Wed Sep 16, 2020, 09:11 AM

Sep 2020

"In 2016, there were Macedonian teenagers interfering in the election by running a troll farm and writing salacious articles for money. In this election, the troll farm is in Phoenix. The scale and scope of domestic disinformation is far greater than anything a foreign adversary could do to us." - Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.

LiberalLovinLug

(14,165 posts)

15. I always suspected there was a larger home grown troll army than Russian

Reply to Grins (Reply #14)

Wed Sep 16, 2020, 02:09 PM

Sep 2020

Now there may have been more Russian influence in years past, they have a lot of experience, for decades in a lot of countries. But they've also shown America's own native trolls how to do it and do it more effectively. I'll bet the GOP has hired the largest troll farm yet for this election.

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