Information campaign currently underway to push the Mollie Tibbetts murder story.
Started in pro-Trump media, after news of Manafort convictions and Cohen confession broke. Now picked up by Russian bots/trolls and a GOP Congressman.
This effort hasn't peaked yet
(THREAD)
@RVAwonk
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Nicholas Grossman Retweeted Nicholas Grossman
Manafort/Cohen were the lead story basically everywhere, but not Fox or Breitbart. Their main focus was a single murder in Iowa. It checked all their boxes: illegal immigrant from Mexico, white female victim. See this short thread
https://twitter.com/NGrossman81/status/1032032410194649088 …Nicholas Grossman added,
Nicholas Grossman @NGrossman81FOX EDITORIAL ROOM -Crap. Manafort found guilty. Cohen plead guilty. What do we do? -Bury it. -Can't. Too big. -Whatabout Hillary? -Never got convicted. -Should've! -Not enough. Anything else? -Illegal immigrant... -Go on. -From Mexico... -I like it. -Murderer! -YES! Go, go, go! pic.twitter.com/nmmb4nrxtCShow this thread2 replies 5 retweets 10 likesShow this thread -
MAGA Twitter pushed the murder story as well, with some trying to add a media bias angle: 3/x
@RVAwonkpic.twitter.com/nUWJDuCNdL
1 reply 1 retweet 4 likesShow this thread -
Nicholas Grossman Retweeted Rep. Steve Scalise
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), a Republican House leader, doubled-down on Fox's efforts to link this single murder in Iowa to national immigration policy, using it to attack the Democrats (and also to not talk about Manafort or Cohen). 4/x https://twitter.com/SteveScalise/status/1032030497491349507 …
@RVAwonkNicholas Grossman added,
Rep. Steve ScaliseVerified account @SteveScaliseWhat will it take for Democrats to renounce their dangerous open borders policies and start to put American citizens first? It’s time they stop blocking common sense bills to restore the rule of law in this country before we see another senseless tragedy like this. https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1032017830496149511 …2 replies 5 retweets 7 likesShow this thread -
Today, the Mollie Tibbetts story is being pushed by 600 Twitter accounts associated with Russian influence operations (tracked by the Alliance for Security Democracy). Currently, "mollietibbetts" is their number 1 trending topic, and number 4 hashtag. 5/x
@RVAwonkpic.twitter.com/TSlSqQaYCL
2 replies 28 retweets 26 likesShow this thread -
Often, pro-Trump influence operations aided by Russian bots/trolls get a boost from Russian government media. However, RT has Manafort/Cohen up top. Going with "adds no weight to Mueller's collusion probe." It'll be interesting to see if RT picks up the Mollie Tibbetts story 6/xpic.twitter.com/CmzvLpFDMV
2 replies 2 retweets 11 likesShow this thread -
This info campaign is almost certainly convergence, not collusion. Fox News, Breitbart, MAGA Twitter, GOP Congressmen, Russian trolls, etc. aren't coordinating their efforts. Each wants to distract from Manafort/Cohen and stoke anti-immigrant fears, and does it on their own. 7/x
2 replies 11 retweets 16 likesShow this thread -
Unfortunately, this infomation campaign isn't victimless. And I don't just mean the damage such things are doing to the national discourse. Mollie Tibbetts is now a Trumpist political prop, whether her family wants the national attention or not. 8/x
1 reply 9 retweets 17 likesShow this thread -
Similar thing happened to Seth Rich, another murder victim whose story could be spun into Trumpists' worldview. Also pushed by info campaign including Fox, Breitbart, some GOP officials, & Russian bots/trolls. Rich's family had to publicly ask them to stop. Some still haven't 9/x
1 reply 7 retweets 9 likesShow this thread -
Some admit pushing murder story for cynical political reasons. Newt Gingrich: "If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble. If we can be blocked by Manafort-Cohen, etc., then GOP could lose [the House] badly." 10/xhttps://www.axios.com/2018-midterm-elections-mollie-tibbetts-republicans-8a33d987-7157-41ec-b1c3-49544a51237c.html …
2 replies 5 retweets 9 likesShow this thread
Others who focus on the Tibbetts story will be true believers. In their bubbles, immigrant crime is rampant = gospel, no matter the data. It's that combination of cynical manipulators and true believers that makes narratives like this persist. And this one's still growing. (END)
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Replying to @NGrossman81
From The Des Moines Registerpic.twitter.com/6S92V6dtWB
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