Hold on to your hats, folks! A shocking Zoom recording has blown the lid off some shady tactics used by the Biden-Harris campaign during the 2020 election. This explosive revelation, courtesy of ace journalist Matt Orfalea, uncovers a systematic attempt to dismiss genuine worries about Joe Biden’s cognitive health as “disinformation.” Talk about a bombshell! This news has rippled through our political scene, raising all sorts of questions about honesty and trust.
Who’s on this infamous Zoom call? None other than Rob Flaherty, who served as the digital director for the campaign and is now Deputy Campaign Manager, Becca Rinkevich, Biden’s Rapid Response Director, and Tim Durigan, the brains behind the DNC Counter-Disinformation Program. In the call, Flaherty spills the beans about the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) strategic plan to detect, track, and censor what they call misinformation. He even labels this initiative as “critical” and one of the party’s most significant decisions in recent times.
Becca Rinkevich, Biden's Rapid Response Director (later WH Deputy Director of Digital Strategy), also classified talk of Biden's mental decline as "disinformation"—"disinformation around his mental acuity". /6 pic.twitter.com/GZMJclMYNs
— Matt Orfalea (@0rf) August 7, 2024
In an eye-opening admission, Flaherty talks about how the DNC poured resources into a team tasked with flagging narratives they deemed harmful on social media platforms. Among these were concerns about Biden’s mental fitness – quickly dismissed as disinformation. Rinkevich seconded this, pointing out how these narratives significantly influenced the campaign. She went on to explain their strategy of identifying voters based on their online behavior and crafting messages to counteract any disinformation about Biden’s mental state.
Biden/Harris digital director Rob Flaherty says the DNC created a program to detect, track, and censor what it deemed "misinformation" (like Biden's mental decline). He calls it "critical" and "one of the more important decisions" made by the party in recent years. /2 pic.twitter.com/pbIqUnY8ib
— Matt Orfalea (@0rf) August 7, 2024
The recording also pulls back the curtain on the campaign’s use of psychographic targeting, a technique that might remind you of Cambridge Analytica’s controversial tactics during the 2016 election. This involved building personas based on voters’ online behavior and hitting them with tailored content to alter their perceptions. For example, if a voter searched for terms like “Biden” and “senile,” they were served up videos of Biden speaking clearly to counter any narratives suggesting cognitive decline.
The Biden/Harris team microtargeted voters exposed to the "disinformation" (aka reality) of Biden's mental decline. They used psychographic targeting, a tactic that Cambridge Analytica was highly scrutinized for after the 2016 election. /7 pic.twitter.com/YDTjbAU9YX
— Matt Orfalea (@0rf) August 7, 2024
The campaign didn’t stop there; they also enlisted online influencers to combat what they labeled as disinformation. Flaherty mentioned worries over Biden’s mental fitness as an example of disinformation that needed tackling through digital organizing. This strategy even seeped into the White House, with efforts to pressure social media giants like Facebook into censoring conservative voices, including Tucker Carlson and Tomi Lahren.
Emails show Flaherty carrying out the (supposedly) counter-misinformation program in the White House, pushing Facebook to censor Tucker Carlson for correctly saying the COVID-19 vaccine didn't stop transmission, and Tomi Lahren for her strong "my body, my choice" stance. /3 pic.twitter.com/QgtATjqI2Z
— Matt Orfalea (@0rf) August 7, 2024
Tim Durigan voiced concerns about what he termed as “true misinformation,” indicating a desire for social media platforms to suppress even accurate information if it clashed with the party line. This strategy, which promoted “authoritative” sources like The New York Times, aimed to keep a tight grip on the narrative.
The Zoom host asks about the "big problem" of "true misinformation". Durigan says it's a "huge problem" & wants social media to suppress "true misinformation" to promote "authoritative" news sources like NYT. Big Tech's done that since '18, but apparently not enough for Tim. /14 pic.twitter.com/qg1ioQ8VGY
— Matt Orfalea (@0rf) August 7, 2024
These revelations carry hefty implications for our political landscape and public trust. The exposed tactics underline a disturbing trend of manipulating information to control public perception. It doesn’t just erode trust in political campaigns but also raises ethical questions about how far parties should go to maintain a positive image.
As these revelations sink in, the Biden-Harris campaign is under the microscope. The fallout from this bombshell recording could have lasting effects, shaping how future campaigns handle information control and transparency. The political drama continues to unfold, with everyone eagerly watching how these revelations will affect the trust and credibility of our political leaders.
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