Kellyanne Conway and Don Jr. Retweeted Russian Troll Account Days Before Election
It was reported earlier today that a well-known and prominent pro-Trump Twitter account was actually run by a notorious Russian troll farm. The account, @TEN_GOP, was shut down in August by Twitter, but not before it had gained over 140,000 followers and had become an influential online conservative voice during and after the 2016 election.
With the account’s tweets having been highly shared by Trump supporters down the stretch of the election last year, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before it was discovered that members of the Trump campaign retweeted the account. And per The Daily Beast, that time is now.
According to the Beast’s report, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway retweeted the account two days before the election, sharing a derogatory tweet about Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her use of a private email server.
And she wasn’t alone. Another member of the Trump campaign, digital director Brad Parscale, retweeted a post from the account that three weeks prior to Election Day that read “Thousands of deplorables chanting to the media: “Tell The Truth!” RT if you are also done w/ biased Media!”
And then there was Donald Trump’s son. Donald Trump Jr. not only retweeted the account days before the election and on Election Day, but he also followed @TEN_GOP all the way until it was shut down. Other Trump supporters and associates, such as former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, former adviser Roger Stone and Ann Coulter all retweeted the account numerous times.
It should also be noted that the president himself personally thanked an account that claimed to be run by the same person that ran the @TEN_GOP account after it tweeted “We love you, Mr. President!” last month. The account is now suspended.
[image via screengrab]
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