Verified left-wing journalists on Twitter were duped by fabricated text messages devised by a college student allegedly sent to President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Verified left-wing journalists on Twitter were duped by fabricated text messages devised by a college student allegedly sent to President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Notably, both the contributing editor at Politico David Freedlander and MSNBC host Rachel Maddow fell for "satire" manufactured by Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis political science student Nick Roberts.
“Rudy seems to have learned his lesson, is tightening protocols, checking ID’s, and is now being taken in by someone claiming to be Ivanka Trump but who is in fact the vice president of the College Democrats of Indiana,” Freedlander tweeted. Responding to Freelander's initial post, Maddow added, “I can’t even."
These messages from Nick Roberts allegedly sent to Rudy Giuliani are FAKE. "It is just satire," the college student tells me. pic.twitter.com/1LGPBdRypC
— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo)
“It is satire,” Roberts told Mediaite on Wednesday afternoon, describing what was actually a conversation with his brother. “Most people have caught onto it being a joke, but then the national people picked it up."
According to journalist Adam Wren, Roberts reportedly has Guiliani's number but admitted to the gag. "Most people knew it was fake initially but more national people picked up on it and didn’t question it."
I mean, props to @nickroberts317 for playing a bunch of coasties. He has a bright future in politics.
— Adam Wren (@adamwren)
In a follow-up statement, Roberts himself tweeted: "I decided to delete my Rudy Giuliani parody tweet. I apologize to all who took seriously. I was surprised by the reaction given the lack of reaction to similar parody tweets in the past. I’ll make sure in the future to flag satire tweets which aren’t real."
I decided to delete my Rudy Giuliani parody tweet. I apologize to all who took seriously. I was surprised by the reaction given the lack of reaction to similar parody tweets in the past. I’ll make sure in the future to flag satire tweets which aren’t real.
— Nick Roberts (@nickroberts317)
Voice of America’s White House bureau chief Steve Herman and Maddow's colleague Stephanie Ruhle were also deceived by the post amplified by Freedlander.
"I can't..." Ruhle mirrored Maddow, speechless and dumbfounded.
A growing list of blue check marks are following suit.
HuffPo, Bleacher Report, Daily Beast, Alt Press: pic.twitter.com/DFcpDRBx5V
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull)
"The same people lecturing all of us about decency and what's news vs. disinformation have spent this afternoon engaging in an *actual* disinformation campaign," NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck commented on the leftist craze, saying "these are not serious people."
This hoax follows an earlier hoax on Wednesday, where Giuliani was falsely accused of having tried to engage in sexual activity with an underage girl.
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