Oh, say it ain’t so! Multiple fake followers for Donald Trump who’ve been pretending to be his supporters on social media have now been exposed!
Politics :
We all remember the time Donald Trump hired actors to cheer for him as he descended an escalator at Trump Tower to announce his initial run for the presidency. We also remember how Trump used a bit of Photoshop magic to make his paltry inauguration crowd appear larger than it actually was in reality. Well, here we go again.
Let’s be frank: Trump won’t be winning any blue ribbons for honesty. So, it should come as no surprise that a bunch of fake followers on social media have been exposed as yet another lie.
According to CNN, several prominent Twitter/X profiles promoting Donald Trump for president have been exposed as fake. More specifically, the network discovered the profile photos were stolen from unwitting foreigners who had no knowledge or interest in American politics and are NOT Donald Trump supporters.
Luna, a self-described 32-year-old “MAGA Trump supporter” from the battleground state of Wisconsin, gained a huge following since joining Twitter/X in March. Her timeline was a digital bullhorn for the “Make America Great Again” movement, praising Donald Trump’s re-election bid, promoting conspiracy theories about Vice President Kamala Harris, and touting Republican talking points to nearly 30,000 followers, who she addresses as “patriots.”
“Would You Support Trump Being The President forever? I wonder if you all support Trump for president just like me,” @Luna_2K24 posted on July 29th, sharing a beach selfie in a white bikini and asking her followers to respond with an American flag emoji if they agreed. The post garnered 54,000 views.
The only problem is, Luna isn’t real.
The photos of the smiling “Luna” are actually photos of Debbie Nederlof, a 32-year-old single mother from Germany who is working 2 jobs (as a social media manager at an engineering firm and as a model) to raise money for her son.
Not only is Nederlof not a supporter of MAGA or Donald Trump, but the German citizen can’t vote in the November election even if she wanted to do so.
When asked by CNN how she felt knowing that her image was being used to promote Donald Trump as one of his fake followers, Nederlof said she was angry and frustrated to learn she was caught up in pushing pro-Trump propaganda on X.
“To be honest, ‘what the f**k?’ was my reaction. That was my reaction because I have nothing to do with the United States, with Trump, [or] the political things over there. What the hell do I –- from a small place in Germany –- care about US politics?” she said.
She is not alone.
Interestingly, Nederlof is only 1 of nearly 20 real European women from the Netherlands, Denmark, and as far away as Russia whose online photos have been stolen to unknowingly serve as fake followers for Donald Trump. The photos of mostly women from foreign countries were all adorned with pro-Trump MAGA hats or t-shirts before being posted to Twitter/X as pretend supporters. In fact, the fake accounts are among 56 profiles on X identified by CNN as part of a coordinated campaign backing the Trump-Vance ticket ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Sadly, experts say there are likely hundreds more fake followers that have not yet been discovered.
In addition to promoting Donald Trump for president, the fake profiles have regularly posted conspiracy-laden messages falsely claiming the US election is being rigged and that Trump has secretly faced other assassination attempts. The accounts also posted anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender, and anti-vaccination rants, as well as racist and xenophobic sentiments.
The fake “Luna” profile featuring Debbie Nederlof has since been deleted. Additionally, the Trump campaign has claimed no knowledge or hand in creating the fake followers.
Still, with Donald Trump’s history of alternative facts and outright lies, combined with Trump sycophant Elon Musk being the owner of Twitter/X, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s really going on here behind the scenes.
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
Trump’s fake followers on Twitter/X get exposed.
This has me at a loss for words. Can this guy get any lower?