As special council led by Robert Muller investigates possible collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia, the role of social media with ties to pro-Kremlin eager to influence the 2016 presidential election is under scrutiny. The New York Times reported in September that Twitter — pro-Russian accounts posing to be Americans and “bots”— might have been used more than Facebook did in Russia’s plot to sway the election result.
As I typed #Russia in a Twitter search box, interesting tweets showed up. Here are some of those tweets that appeared to shift a blame away from Trump and to the media and Trump’s contender Hillary Clinton:
Corruption: #HillaryClinton‘s State Department approved 215 #BillClinton speeches (in #Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Panama, Turkey, Taiwan, India, the Cayman Islands, & elsewhere) worth $48 million! https://t.co/qe3n2ysGbE
— Judicial Watch 🔎 (@JudicialWatch) November 27, 2017
#US Handing Out Money to Students and Journalists in Order to Subvert #Russia‘s Societyhttps://t.co/CcRXLIcUfs pic.twitter.com/0dluoTlRaG
— Enrico Ivanov ☦ (@Russ_Warrior) November 25, 2017
#Russia doesn’t just give $140m away for nothing. This was a
#Clinton Crime Family “Pay for Play” #UraniumOne Deal that Put Money in their pockets & Screwed America. pic.twitter.com/5YjsaSGbGb— Kevin W. (@kwilli1046) November 18, 2017
At the same time, the hashtag is used in tweets related to the investigation or anti-Russia underscoring the country’s threats to the United States.
#Putin Isn’t Interested in Helping America https://t.co/6lNpeGzFXi via @JonahNRO #Russia pic.twitter.com/OOy9KM9hvb
— National Review (@NRO) November 17, 2017
Senate Judiciary Committee: Kushner forwarded emails about ‘a Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite’ https://t.co/OHJ1wwHkM3 #Trump #Russia
— V (@DotDotDotDash) November 16, 2017
Life of a spy https://t.co/xQjkwAiMXC Christopher Steele #trump #russia #putin
— Rush (@rushwrites) November 16, 2017