WTF Community

Day 942

General Discussion
#1

1/ Trump claimed – without evidence – that Google "manipulated" votes in the 2016 election after a Fox Business segment aired Senate Judiciary Committee testimony in June of a psychologist claiming that "biased search results generated by Google's search algorithm likely impacted undecided voters in a way that gave at least 2.6 million votes to Hillary Clinton (whom I supported)." The authors of the study looked at search results for 95 people over the 25 days preceding the election and evaluated the first page for bias. They did not describe their process, provided no data on the searches, or discuss how Google personalizes search results on past searches, preferences, and location. Trump's tweet also appears to refer to documents leaked to conservative group Project Veritas. The documents, however, do not contain outright allegation of vote manipulation or attempts to bias the election. (CNBC / Washington Post / TechCrunch)

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/08/19/day-942/
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#2

For an insightful op-ed on Trump’s feud with Fox along with his promotion of the even-further-right One America News Network, see this post.

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#3

Thanks @Matt for putting a spotlight on this. I’m impressed with the chairwoman’s command of language. She leaves absolutely no doubt that our President is lying to us about a crucial national issue and is erroding our democratic institutions. And, BTW, has Trump lifted even one finger to actually help protect our elections?

Ellen Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, on Monday rebuked President Donald Trump’s repeated allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election as “damaging to our democracy” and wholly unsubstantiated.

“There is no evidence of rampant voter fraud in 2016 or really in any previous election … People have studied this. Academics have studied this. Lawyers have studied this. The government has studied this. Democrats have studied this. Republicans have studied this,” she continued. “And no one can find any evidence of rampant voter fraud either historically or particularly in the 2016 elections.”

The White House did not immediately return an email seeking a response to Weintraub’s remarks.

Trump on Thursday asserted at a rally in New Hampshire that voter fraud is the reason he lost the Granite State’s four electoral votes in the previous presidential election. He told supporters at an arena in Manchester, “It was taken away from us.”

In a letter to Trump on Friday, Weintraub challenged Trump “to provide any evidence” that could back up those statements. “To put it in terms a former casino operator should understand: There comes a time when you need to lay your cards on the table or fold,” she wrote.

The president on Sunday reiterated his unfounded claims, telling reporters in New Jersey that “many, many people voted that shouldn’t have been voted,” and insisting “some people voted many times.”

"Facts matter. And people of America need to be able to believe what their leaders tell them,” Weintraub said Monday.

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#4

And here’s an excellent 3-minute video from CNN explaining how wildly false Trump’s latest conspiracy theory is:

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#5

Besides the payroll tax, Trump’s people are considering rolling back some of his tariffs, a tacit admission that they ARE costing Americans.

Trump Administration Considers Moves to Bolster Economy

In Economic Warning Signals, Trump Sees Signs of a Conspiracy

Remember, reviving the steel industry was one of Trump’s biggest promises and boasts.

U.S. Steel plans to lay off hundreds of workers in Michigan


Court Upholds North Dakota Law Stripping Voting Rights From Native Americans

Democrats Want to Turn Trump’s Twitter Addiction Into an Election Issue

The party recently commissioned polling that showed framing the president as ineffective because of his social media habits is one of its most persuasive arguments.

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#6

According to NBC, the Epoch Times and its backers are juggernauts on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, by far the largest purveyor of right-wing conspiracy theories and pro-Trump rhetoric in the hopes of using Trump to jumpstart the apocalypse.

Trump, QAnon and an impending judgment day: Behind the Facebook-fueled rise of The Epoch Times

Started almost two decades ago with a stated mission to “provide information to Chinese communities to help immigrants assimilate into American society,” The Epoch Times now wields one of the biggest social media followings of any news outlet.

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#7

Trump Inflating Scottish Golf Resorts’ Value By $165 Million, Per UK Filings

President Donald Trumphas filed financial disclosure statements that appear to misstate the value and profitability of his Scotland golf courses by $165 million, possibly violating federal laws that are punishable by jail time.

Trump claimed in his 2018 U.S. filing that his Turnberry and Aberdeen resorts were each worth more than $50 million. For that same time period, he filed balance sheets with the United Kingdom government showing that their combined debt exceeded their assets by 47.9 million British pounds ― the equivalent of $64.8 million at the exchange rate on Dec. 31, 2017, the date of the last U.K. filing available.

His 2018 “public financial disclosure” filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics also claims those two resorts earned him “income” of $23.8 million. His filings with the U.K. Companies House office in Edinburgh for that period showed the resorts had actually lost 4.6 million pounds ― equal to $6.3 million.

His U.S. disclosure statement also fails to mention $199.5 million in loans Trump has made to those resorts: $54.9 million from him personally to Trump International, Scotland in Aberdeenshire; $144.6 million from his trust to Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire.

Knowingly providing false or incomplete information on that form is a violation of the Ethics in Government Act punishable by up to a year in jail. Signing the form attesting to the untrue information constitutes making a false statement, punishable by up to five years in prison.

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#8

Look who’s back… and look who’s working their level best to ignore it.

Fears Rise of an ISIS Comeback

The U.S. drawdown could provide a dangerous opening for the Islamic State to resurge.

ISIS militants return to Iraq, continue fight

A scathing new Pentagon report blames Trump for the return of ISIS in Syria and Iraq

Pompeo says ISIS is ‘more powerful’ in some places but downplays overall threat

As Taliban Talk Peace, ISIS Is Ready to Play the Spoiler in Afghanistan

ISIS Is Regaining Strength in Iraq and Syria

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#9

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