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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/28/trump-tweets-hoax-louise-mensch-claude-taylor
Welcome to "journalism" in the Social Media age. The fact that she didn't just fall for these ridiculous "claims" from an unidentified source, she then re-posted them for the world to see and presented it as news (and gained a following doing so). And all of this from a former member of Parliament in the UK. As if we didn't already know this lady was a lying hack whom only the idiotic and the desperate would be taken in by.
The actual Guardian article goes into far more detail, including email exchanges between the anonymous source and Mensch and Taylor.
Explosive allegations about Donald Trump made by online writers with large followings among Trump critics were based on bogus information from a hoaxer who falsely claimed to work in law enforcement.
The source’s false tips included an allegation, which has been aggressively circulated by Mensch and Taylor, that Trump’s inactive fashion model agency is under investigation by New York authorities for possible sex trafficking.
The hoaxer, who fed the information to Taylor by email, said she acted out of frustration over the “dissemination of fake news” by Taylor and Mensch. Their false stories about Trump have included a claim that he was already being replaced as president by Senator Orrin Hatch in a process kept secret from the American public.
Mensch denied using the bogus information and said her allegations about Trump’s model agency came from her own sources. Asked why she had retweeted Taylor’s false posts, Mensch said: “I don’t think anybody can vet anybody else’s sources.”
The source falsely claimed to be an official named “Caitlin” in the office of Eric Schneiderman, New York’s attorney general. She shared details of her hoax on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation from followers of Taylor and Mensch. The Guardian verified her true identity and confirmed that she is not named Caitlin and does not work for Schneiderman.
“Taylor asked no questions to verify my identity, did no vetting whatsoever, sought no confirmation from a second source – but instead asked leading questions to support his various theories, asking me to verify them,” the source said in an email.
The pair describe themselves as co-writers and have cultivated a large fanbase among some critics of Trump, many of whom identify as members of the “resistance” movement eager to see the president removed from office. Taylor has about 200,000 followers on Twitter while Mensch has 267,000 followers.
Welcome to "journalism" in the Social Media age. The fact that she didn't just fall for these ridiculous "claims" from an unidentified source, she then re-posted them for the world to see and presented it as news (and gained a following doing so). And all of this from a former member of Parliament in the UK. As if we didn't already know this lady was a lying hack whom only the idiotic and the desperate would be taken in by.
The actual Guardian article goes into far more detail, including email exchanges between the anonymous source and Mensch and Taylor.
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