Remember in 2016 when you would see Twitter accounts that seemed like they were Democrats, echoing some Democratic talking points, playing all friendly then suddenly start insisting "There's no difference between Hillary and Trump!" I remember that. I talked about it all the time on the radio show. I would confront the individuals and say "You can't be serious."
Not only would the individuals double down, but they sometimes would make the argument that they wanted Trump to win because "it wouldn't be that bad."
Spoiler alert, it was! It was horrible! And it was only after the 2016 election we realized these were fake Twitter users, manufactured trolls whose goal was to convince Democrats they were one of them, and then try to convince as many Democrats to either vote for Trump or sit the election out (usually with chants of "Bernie!").
They did their job and just enough Democrats decided to not vote for the candidate they agreed with 80% of the time, and instead help install a President they never agreed with.
Well, it sure appears to me that they're doing it again.
Republicans are starting to have a massive math problem. GenZ is firmly against them and their strong base, the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers, two generations with very loyal support for the GOP (cultivated by Reagan), are dying off. They're desperately needing to convince the younger voters they are not that bad or to sit the election out, even as the Right openly takes their rights away from them. To do this, they are going back to the old tool, trolls disguised as leftists whose job is to trick them into either supporting Trump or sitting the election out.
I've already come across a few. I'll be the first to say I can't say for sure, one way or the other, if they are actually plants or just deeply misinformed fools, but regardless you need to be careful and err on the side of caution.
Let me give you an example of this.
Now, once again I am not saying this person is someone intentionally deceiving others. She might just be a misguided individual, but by the time we get to her last argument, I think we'll all agree something is going on here.
This is a profile where I have taken out some information:
I am sure someone can track her down, but I do not want to help her with her links or cash app features. She showed up a few times in my timeline, and even though she says she's on the very far left of the political spectrum, she seemed to make a few good points. She also posts a lot of party and fashion photos. She was a fun account to follow.
And I do clearly see 'socialist' in her profile. When I first looked at her posts, I would place her more in the Democratic Socialist category. Needless to say, you would not think someone on the far left of the political spectrum would in any way entertain a far-right fascist as a good political option.
This morning this post showed up in my timeline:
Kate Willett (a person I've interviewed) is like a lot of people frustrated by Biden, helping Israel as they use the horrific terrorist attack from last October to justify a genocide of the Palestinians. For the record, I think Israel should've stopped months ago, but I don't blame Biden nearly as much as I blame Israel. This is clearly a land grab and they'll kill anyone (Palestinians, World Central Kitchen Volunteers, and even hostages trying to get back to Israel) to achieve their goal. It's wrong.
I also hear the Republicans talking about what they would do in the Gaza Strip. They have stated they'll line up every Palestinian and shoot them in the head. You may not like Biden, but if you care about Palestinians, the Republicans are still the FAR worse option.
While Kate has criticized Biden, she has also consistently stated that Trump is a very real danger to our way of life. I can appreciate that. It's like I said in a previous post; Biden might be an Arby's Beef 'N Cheddar (not the best option) but he is still technically food. Trump is a crap sandwich; feces on two slices of bread. He's not even food.
But Trump's supporters need to convince you to take a big bite; that it won't be that bad.
Let's focus on Bri's quote tweet. She starts by implying a vote for Biden is being complacent to Biden, something which is comical when you realize she is trying to call Kate out on that. Kate has been a very vocal criticizer of Biden, so Bri saying that seems to be trying to frame the argument in a very specific way.
Then comes the first big WTF comment. Biden and Trump won't be 'materially different' from each other? That's insanity. Trump has already said he wants to be a dictator, wants to make himself immune from prosecution, wants to gut social security and social safety net programs, wants to use the government to attack his enemies, and plans on taking away multiple rights from American citizens. No socialist or Democratic Socialist can possibly say "There is no difference between Trump and Biden" with a straight face.
She then implies a Trump win would be a positive because everyone would be angry and protest. Once again, she presents this as a positive. I don't know how anyone can argue taking away people's rights and well-being is a positive, especially not a "socialist." A lot of people argued for Trump in 2016, presenting a narrative of "one way to the other he would bring the system down." It didn't go that way, but he did a lot of damage. We all lost and lost badly, with zero positives.
My response to her was very straightforward pointing out we already did the 'there's no difference' dance in 2016, and it didn't go well.
Bri responded:
The first thing she says is good. I'm glad she's not planning on voting for Trump, but not voting, or voting for a candidate with no chance, is only helping Trump. That's a fact.
The second point she makes is a bit of a head-scratcher and I started to think Bri might be a fake account. I had multiple radio shows talking about the "there's no difference" movement to help Trump in 2016. There were a lot of troll accounts pushing that narrative.
Was she upset about me mentioning the "there's no difference' argument from 2016 because it was her schtick this election cycle and wanted the GenZ voters to feel like she was original? Maybe she was just not aware of the 2016 attempt, but that aside, the last line set off a MASSIVE red flag.
She is CLEARLY implying Joe Biden was responsible for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. That's insanity.
Once again, I'm not sure of her motivations, but the only way I could see anyone being that dishonest, ignorant, and stupid would be if they were intentionally trying to take the blame off of Trump and place the blame on Biden. For the record, Trump took away women's bodily autonomy.
I immediately blocked the account.
Be prepared! If someone you think is a good old leftie starts insisting that Joe Biden is to blame for all your problems, or that Trump is a better option, or that it doesn't matter who wins in 2024, immediately block them and warn off all your followers.
It's better to be safe than sorry, especially when Democracy itself is on the line in 2024.