# Washington Post: Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 25, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945 "2016-11-25T03:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/442 "2016-12-20T21:50:23Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > By which you effectively change the subject. The big question is about our election, and the consequences thereof. Did Russian interference affect our election? Dunno, I’m at “maybe” leaning towards “yes”. Was he in on it? Oh, hell no! > > So what? The attempt was made. that’s not good. It may have succeeded, to some degree or another, and that’s a whole lot of not good. > > Did Il Douche renounce, denounce and condemn? No, what he does is deny. That’s good enough for you? Well, OK, that’s good enough for you. I’m more concerned that every news agency in America is biased than I am about Ivan. I’m more worried about China stealing all our IP and claiming what they want to claim while we sit on our thumbs than I am about a email phishing scheme. I wonder if Podesta also transferred $10,000 to a Nigerian prince. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/443 "2016-12-20T21:58:57Z")
And that’s perfectly within your rights! Thank you for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/444 "2016-12-20T22:00:41Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I’m more concerned that every news agency in America is biased What’s more likely? 1. Every single news agency in America is biased in the same way in some grand conspiracy against conservatives 2. You are simply more biased to the right than you realize, and therefore all news media seems to be biased against you due to your perspective coming from the far right Think about it and be honest with yourself ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/445 "2016-12-20T22:21:16Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Of course the Russians acted. Just as we do. I’m saying assigning fault to Trump for the actions of Russia is dishonest and propaganda. I assign fault to Trump that he is siding with the Russians over the Americans. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/446 "2016-12-21T01:05:53Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The GOP had the opportunity to win me back, and they failed miserably when they chose party over country. It’s OK. They won back enough patriotic, red-blooded Americans that they didn’t need your vote. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/447 "2016-12-21T01:07:43Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > What’s more likely? > > 1. Every single news agency in America is biased in the same way in some grand conspiracy against conservatives > > 2. You are simply more biased to the right than you realize, and therefore all news media seems to be biased against you due to your perspective coming from the far right > > Think about it and be honest with yourself I never said anything about which direction each individual news agency is biased towards. Don’t read things that aren’t there. Each news agency is biased and those biases play a bigger impact on the nation than Russia’s phishing. ---
**Author:** ![BrerRobert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@BrerRobert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrerRobert)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/448 "2016-12-21T02:07:06Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I assign fault to Trump that he is siding with the Russians over the Americans. You must be unaware of his Secretary of Defense’s stated views on Putin and on Russia’s statements and activities outside it’s borders. [Example](https://youtu.be/SCD5zHBNWG8?t=1432) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/449 "2016-12-21T02:08:10Z")
> [@BrerRobert](#): > > Not on social media. Al Jazeera English has more Twitter subscribers than RT, and on Facebook the AJ+ page alone has nearly twice as many likes as RT. They both seem to have more impact via social media than direct broadcast. Though I could be biased on this account, since I am not aware of any one I know watching either network directly, but I see AJ on my social media feeds daily, and RT regularly but to a lesser degree. Regardless, they are both state propaganda outlets of regressive governments who intend to use them to influence our internal politics. Oh, I forgot that the world is run by Millennials now, and the number of likes and upvotes is the true measure of popularity. For example, Kim Kardashian is bigger than Walmart because she has fifty times more followers. ---
**Author:** ![BrerRobert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@BrerRobert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrerRobert)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/450 "2016-12-21T02:15:30Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Oh, I forgot that the world is run by Millennials now, and the number of likes and upvotes is the true measure of popularity. > > For example, Kim Kardashian is bigger than Walmart because she has fifty times more followers. When someone likes or follows a page it becomes part of their news feed, which is not enough for Walmart to complete a sale, but it sufficient for Al Jazeera or RT to distribute propaganda. You don’t have to like to but that is the state of the media in 2016. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/451 "2016-12-21T02:51:54Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’s OK. They won back enough patriotic, red-blooded Americans… Yeah, damn near half the people who voted! The Vikings seem to have a similar approach, if you lose by only one point, that’s a win. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/452 "2016-12-21T03:02:14Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’s OK. They won back enough patriotic, red-blooded Americans that they didn’t need your vote. How can I tell the difference between patriotic red-blooded supporters of Trump and Nazi supporters of Trump? Because you all look alike to me. Perhaps we’ll need to examine the colour of their blood to tell them apart. Suits me. ---
**Author:** ![BrerRobert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@BrerRobert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrerRobert)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/453 "2016-12-21T03:22:54Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > How can I tell the difference between patriotic red-blooded supporters of Trump and Nazi supporters of Trump? Because you all look alike to me. > > Perhaps we’ll need to examine the colour of their blood to tell them apart. Suits me. Hate speech much? How to find the Nazi Trump supporters? I don’t know, maybe look for signs of desperation from Nazis who have had to settle for a candidate with a Jewish daughter, who is a strong supporter of Israel, who dated a black lady and has been name dropped in more rap songs that any white dude except maybe Jesus. It’s easy to find the fascists among the Trump haters though, they are the ones in the brown shirts [knocking down elderly homeless women](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilIX_cz3HIQ), [engaging in mob violence,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywDvXmeVfoE)and calling for and [drawing blood.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lk1kvZ_WNY%22) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/454 "2016-12-21T03:32:54Z")
The odd scuffle doesn’t concern me. It’s America, you guys kill each other all the time over far more trivial things like shoes and stop signs. A resurgence of fascism and white supremacist groups with friends in government is far more troubling. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/455 "2016-12-21T05:36:34Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > How can I tell the difference between patriotic red-blooded supporters of Trump and Nazi supporters of Trump? Because you all look alike to me. > > Perhaps we’ll need to examine the colour of their blood to tell them apart. Suits me. Advocating harm to a large group of people solely based on whom they voted for is a bit sick. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/456 "2016-12-21T05:38:03Z")
How many of these alt-right kryptonazi groups trumpeted their admiration and approval of, say, Bernie. Or Obama. Hillary? Or Romney, for that matter. Would that number be in the vicinity of zero, zip, zilch nada? Because its impossible, isn’t it. No way they could signal approval of such as these. Their public records, their statements, their stances…impossible. And yet they are quite pleased with Mr Trump’s election, seem to see it as some sort of vindication, a recognition that they now have “a seat at the table”. They are, God help us, respectable. Make of that what you will, seems a rather glaring distinction from here. ---
**Author:** ![BrerRobert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@BrerRobert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrerRobert)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/457 "2016-12-21T06:37:24Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > How many of these alt-right kryptonazi groups trumpeted their admiration and approval of, say, Bernie. Or Obama. Hillary? Or Romney, for that matter. Would that number be in the vicinity of zero, zip, zilch nada? > > Because its impossible, isn’t it. No way they could signal approval of such as these. Their public records, their statements, their stances…impossible. > > And yet they are quite pleased with Mr Trump’s election, seem to see it as some sort of vindication, a recognition that they now have “a seat at the table”. They are, God help us, respectable. > > Make of that what you will, seems a rather glaring distinction from here. The only thing to make of it is that those groups are so tiny that what they think and say is meaningless, other than as a useful tool for people to try to associate Trump, who’s message has consistently been a racially inclusive one, with nearly universally abhorred ideologies. This is done as an attempt to discredit him as well as a way for some of his opponents to puff up their smug senses of virtuousness. Now that the efforts to discredit him have fallen flat, only the later reason remains. And no, it is not impossible. Hillary was endorsed by a KKK “Grand Wizard” or some such, as well as the Taliban supporting father of the guy who shot up the pulse nightclub. David Duke has praised Dennis Kucinich for his anti-Israeli stances. The Communist Party of the USA seemed to be very fond of Bernie Sanders this time around. Extremists take whatever bits of shared ideology where they can find them. The narrative that you are trying to spin here is completely disconnected from reality. I mean, [seriously:](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/donald-trump-israel-2016-netanyahu-213748) “Yet, a recent poll found Trump was by far Israel’s favorite GOP candidate, and the second-most popular overall. A plurality even thought he would be best at “representing Israel’s interests,” better than Hillary Clinton, with her decades of advocacy at the highest levels of government.” OMG what a Nazi :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/458 "2016-12-21T08:36:24Z")
> [@BrerRobert](#): > > The narrative that you are trying to spin here is completely disconnected from reality. I mean, seriously: "Yet, a recent poll found Trump was by far Israel’s favorite GOP candidate False dichotomy. Just because Trump is favored by Israel doesn’t mean that American Nazis and other avowed white supremacists don’t [also like him](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/08/07/top-nazi-leader-trump-will-be-a-real-opportunity-for-white-nationalists/?utm_term=.24ecc8187519): > [@](#): > > […] the chairman of the American Nazi Party […] Rocky Suhayda […] thinks there is one political figure who presents a “real opportunity” […] > > Who is it? Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president. > > “Now, if Trump does win, okay, it’s going to be a real opportunity for people like white nationalists, acting intelligently to build upon that […]" > > “We have a wonderful OPPORTUNITY here folks, that may never come again, at the RIGHT time,” Suhayda wrote, according to BuzzFeed. “Donald Trump’s campaign statements, if nothing else, have SHOWN that ‘our views’ are NOT so ‘unpopular’ as the Political Correctness crowd have told everyone they are!” > > Suhayda is far from the first avowed white supremacist to publicize his support and enthusiasm for Trump. > > […] the KKK had begun using Trump’s candidacy as a new conversation starter to recruit followers. […] > > Jared Taylor, editor of American Renaissance, a white-nationalist magazine and website based in Northern Virginia, told the New Yorker magazine that Trump may be in denial about the makeup of his base. > > “I’m sure he would repudiate any association with people like me,” Taylor told the magazine, “but his support comes from people who are more like me than he might like to admit.” ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/459 "2016-12-21T12:35:00Z")
I agree with John McCain: Obama had no response for dealing with Putin. Mr KGB absolutely dominated Obama at every turn. It results from a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Kremlin has feared about the US-NATO alliance and what they want in return, and a major miscalculation of how Russia would react and respond to international sanctions. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/460 "2016-12-21T13:36:46Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This is terrific! Next tell us how Obama is responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and how he commands the Mole-men to infiltrate all of the Wall-marts in conjunction with the reverse vampires. Obama is terrific. But Obama is not responsible, and must not be held responsible, for the Archie Duke assassination. Nor must Obama be held responsible for the moles on your wall, mac. Obama is simply not responsible. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/461 "2016-12-21T16:25:44Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I agree with John McCain: Obama had no response for dealing with Putin. Mr KGB absolutely dominated Obama at every turn. It results from a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Kremlin has feared about the US-NATO alliance and what they want in return, and a major miscalculation of how Russia would react and respond to international sanctions. If Russia doesn’t like sanctions, maybe they should stop invading neighbors. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=24)