Someone has created thousands of fake, automated Twitter accounts — perhaps hundreds of thousands of them — to offer a stream of praise for Donald Trump over the past 11 months, an Israeli tech firm has discovered.
Besides posting adoring words about the former president, the fake accounts ridiculed Trump's critics from both parties and attacked Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador who is challenging her onetime boss for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
"One account will say, 'Biden is trying to take our guns; Trump was the best,' and another will say, 'Jan. 6 was a lie and Trump was innocent,'" said Jules Gross, the Cyabra engineer who first discovered the network."Those voices are not people. For the sake of democracy I want people to know this is happening."
"McConnell... Traitor!" wrote one of the accounts, in response to an article in a conservative publication about GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell, one of several Republican critics of Trump targeted by the network. The same network of accounts shared overwhelmingly positive content about Trump and contributed to an overall false picture of his support online, researchers found.
Bots can also succeed in convincing people that a candidate or idea is more or less popular than the reality, he said. More pro-Trump bots can lead to people overstating his popularity overall, for example.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The poll that could see Republicans finally turn on Donald TrumpTrump will deliver a major speech at CPAC this Saturday as some potential Republican rivals highlight their campaigns.
Read more »
Donald Trump Debuts Song With Convicted Jan. 6 Rioters“Justice for All” proceeds will reportedly benefit the families of those involved in the Capitol attack.
Read more »
Donald Trump 'one step' closer to indictment from DOJ: KirschnerThe DOJ recently denied the former president's request to have sweeping immunity from civil cases related to the January 6 Capitol riot.
Read more »
Donald Trump's five-pronged attack plan against Ron DeSantis looks pretty weak'Trump's greatest successes came at the beginning of his modern political career through simple insults hurled at his opponents. Just ask 'Little Marco,' 'Lyin' Ted' and 'Crooked Hillary.' But now, he has lost that edge,' freddoso writes.
Read more »
Fox News contributor warns Donald Trump: 'Don't fight Ron DeSantis''Trump is going to have to stay Trump. We just hope that he fights the left,' Tomi Lahren said on Friday.
Read more »
Donald Trump Floating ‘Tiny D’ as New DeSantis NicknameHe has also apparently been considering “Ron Dishonest” and “Ron DeEstablishment.”
Read more »