Apple Magazine - USA - Issue 432 (2020-02-07)

(Antfer) #1

ONLINE CONSPIRACY THEORIES FLOURISH AFTER IOWA CAUCUS FIASCO


Monday night could not have gone better for
online troublemakers who have spent years
propagating false or misleading conspiracy
theories on the internet that the U.S. election is
rigged or vulnerable to tampering.
The delayed election results from the Iowa
caucuses revealed some Democratic candidates’
supporters are so distrustful of the outcome
that they peppered the internet with unproven
claims that accused the Democratic Party of
corruption by attempting to tilt the election in
favor of a single candidate.
President Donald Trump and his supporters
seized on that distrust by sending tweets
Monday night with #RiggedElection. Trump’s
own sons shouted “Rigged!” at an Iowa
campaign event. And Republican Sen. Lindsey
Graham suggested in a tweet that the caucus
issues were the result of a “Bernie blowout.”
Free download pdf