‘Firehose’ of election conspiracy theories floods final days of the campaign
In the final days of the presidential election, lies about noncitizens voting, the vulnerability of mail-in ballots and the security of voting machines are spreading widely over social media. Fanned by former President Donald Trump and notable allies such as tech tycoon Elon Musk, election disinformation is warping voters’ faith in the integrity of the […]
Elon Musk’s X is boosting election conspiracy theories with AI-powered trending topics
Elon Musk’s social media app X is supercharging the spread of voter-fraud conspiracy theories with the help of artificial intelligence, boosting unfounded claims including two personal smears against Vice President Kamala Harris. The dubious content is spreading in the app’s “explore” section, which says it uses Musk’s AI software,...
'Blind embrace': Investigation finds alarming pattern linking criminals pardoned by Trump
A new analysis of Donald Trump's presidential pardons exposes an alarming pattern of tit for conspiracy theory-laden tat, a new political analysis contends. Slate staff writer Molly Olmstead on Monday revealed the findings of her deep-dive investigation into 237 people Trump has spared from serving time on crimes that include drug dealing, domestic abuse, refusing to stop discriminating against Latinos and Ponzi scheming. "There’s a category of recipient that stands out: his own people," wrote Olmstead. "If Trump wins in November, this is a cohort that stands ready to return to power, and once...
'Immense pressure': Trump's 'inner circle' reportedly behind revived voting machine theory
Conspiracy theories about hacked voting machines promoted by former President Donald Trump's closest allies after the 2020 election are being revived – but this time the Trump campaign “appears to be largely acting behind the scenes,” according to reports. Despite past far-fetched claims of hacked election machines being widely debunked – including by a series of judges who dismissed election-related cases brought by the Trump campaign – those closest to Trump are again rolling out the theories “as part of a late-campaign strategy to assert that this year’s election is rigged,” according to Th...