# 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:** 26
**Author:** ![BrerRobert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@BrerRobert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrerRobert)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/502 "2016-12-23T21:50:24Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > And **Brer Bob?** “Rooting and voting for Trump”? Who on the left was in a position to vote for Trump? Are you going to put forth a fever-swamp conspiracy, lefties infiltrating the Republican primaries to push for Trump? Will this fairy tale have wizards and dragons? I like those. Are you kidding? Well, I mean, that appears to be all you do, which is confusing because I don’t think Lorne Michaels even reads this forum so I don’t know why you insist on auditioning here, but anyway what I mean is are you really unaware that some Dems were so sure that a Trump primary win guaranteed a Dem general victory that they voted for Trump in the primaries (many of which were OPEN, so no wizardly infiltration through fevered dragon fairy swamp blah blah nonsense required)? Really? > [@](#): > > And you offer us _John Oliver_ as a citation? I have this gnawing fear that you are not kidding. Oliver is a lefty who strongly urged Trump to run. You know, the exact thing I mentioned, that you asked for an example of. But hey, if you want something closer to home: > [@Trump's Republican primary campaign](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-republican-primary-campaign/729828/131): > > PLEASE don’t nominate Trump, Br’er Fox! We’re afraid to run against him! In skimming that thread I noticed that it is peppered with your smarmy self certain predictions, you should go back and revisit the 2015 elucidator, it would be a shame to have all of that impotent comic genius be completely wasted, perhaps your prior self could at least entertain your current self, while you wait for your call backs. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/503 "2016-12-23T21:59:18Z")
> [@BrerRobert](#): > > In skimming that thread I noticed that it is peppered with your smarmy self certain predictions, you should go back and revisit the 2015 elucidator, it would be a shame to have all of that impotent comic genius be completely wasted, perhaps your prior self could at least entertain your current self, while you wait for your call backs. That thread is an amazing repository of self-satisfied wrongness. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/504 "2016-12-24T01:05:18Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > More bold predictions about Trump. Did you make any other predictions about him this year? If so, what was the outcome? The staunch chest-thumping anti-Communist party of Reagan is now embracing Putin’s Russia and against our own intelligence agencies. What more proof do you need that the Republican party that we knew and loved of a few years ago is already gone? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/505 "2016-12-24T01:50:11Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The staunch chest-thumping anti-Communist party of Reagan is now embracing Putin’s Russia and against our own intelligence agencies. What more proof do you need that the Republican party that we knew and loved of a few years ago is already gone? Trump could name Putin to his cabinet, and put him in charge of the military, and the Republican apologists would defend this. Party before country. Absolutely. ---
**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 24, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/506 "2016-12-24T16:48:20Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The staunch chest-thumping anti-Communist party of Reagan is now embracing Putin’s Russia and against our own intelligence agencies. What more proof do you need that the Republican party that we knew and loved of a few years ago is already gone? Communist and Russian are not intrinsically synonymous. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/507 "2016-12-24T16:54:07Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Communist and Russian are not intrinsically synonymous. “Trusted friend and staunch ally of the USA” and “Russia” are not intrinsically synonymous either! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/508 "2016-12-24T17:09:06Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The staunch chest-thumping anti-Communist party of Reagan is now embracing Putin’s Russia and against our own intelligence agencies. What more proof do you need that the Republican party that we knew and loved of a few years ago is already gone? Does this non-answer to my question mean what I think it means? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/509 "2016-12-24T18:05:13Z")
When is Putin going to be named to Trump’s cabinet? And what position will he hold? The Republicans will excuse this, of course. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/510 "2016-12-24T18:18:50Z")
Dean of the Electoral College? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/511 "2016-12-24T18:28:30Z")
Commissar of Electoral Integrity ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/512 "2016-12-24T18:54:25Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Does this non-answer to my question mean what I think it means? This directly answered your question. Not sure how you aren’t seeing that. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/513 "2016-12-24T19:00:48Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > When is Putin going to be named to Trump’s cabinet? And what position will he hold? The Republicans will excuse this, of course. Easy one. In keeping with every single one of the Orange Peril’s cabinet appointments being exactly wrong for the job, I think Putin would fit in great as Secretary of State, driving US foreign policy beginning with support for Russian annexation of Ukraine in its entirety and moving on to all of eastern Europe. Russia could change its name to something grander like “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” and good times could be had all around. Tillerson could be moved to Energy, where “oil and coal are the future!”. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/514 "2016-12-24T19:15:25Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > This directly answered your question. Not sure how you aren’t seeing that. I think you’re confused. You might want to try re-reading post #499. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/515 "2016-12-24T21:03:53Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Dean of the Electoral College? > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Commissar of Electoral Integrity Both excellent potential titles. “Idiot wrangler” might be in contention, too. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/516 "2016-12-24T22:07:22Z")
Wonder what the Russians call him? When they’re good and drunk and talking with somebody they know won’t turn them in. Probably somebody here knows. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/517 "2016-12-24T22:11:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > wonder what the russians call him? When they’re good and drunk and talking with somebody they know won’t turn them in. Probably somebody here knows. “хуйло” ---
**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 24, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/518 "2016-12-24T22:13:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > “Trusted friend and staunch ally of the USA” and “Russia” are not intrinsically synonymous either! :rolleyes: From pro-Stalin to anti-Russian. Why has the left become such hawks? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/519 "2016-12-24T22:21:54Z")
ooh snap ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/520 "2016-12-25T00:14:43Z")
Cite the left was pro Stalin? Oh that’s just a bullshit slur you pulled out of your ass? Par for the course. ---
**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 25, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945/521 "2016-12-25T00:24:56Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Cite the left was pro Stalin? Oh that’s just a bullshit slur you pulled out of your ass? Par for the course. It’s more accurate, by far, than all the nutty left wing comparisons of Trump to Hitler or a fascist. I don’t see you labeling Democrat fake news as ass dwelling, bullshit slurs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/washington-post-russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/772945.md?page=27)