US senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican and former US president Donald Trump’s pick for vice president, has a public Venmo account that gives an unfiltered glimpse into his extensive network of connections with establishment GOP heavyweights, wealthy financiers, technology executives, the prestige press, and fellow graduates of Yale Law …
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While Elon Musk officially endorsed former president Donald Trump in the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt, Grok, the “anti-woke” AI chatbot integrated into Musk’s X platform, is boosting claims that Trump is “a pedophile” and “a wannabe dictator.” The chatbot also refers to Trump as “Psycho.” This is based on …
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On Monday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina took to the stage and declared he believes in miracles. “Thank God almighty,” Scott said. “Our God still saves, still delivers, still sets free. Because on Saturday, the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a …
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I’m David Gilbert, a reporter on WIRED’s Politics desk covering disinformation and online extremism. I’m filling in for Makena this week, and wanted to talk about reality. Not in the sense of whether we’re living in a simulation or not (obviously we are), but in how we perceive the world …
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Almost immediately after the UK general election was called on May 22, the meme war began. Social media campaigns from both the Labour and Conservative parties shared hundreds of memes, from Labour’s viral TikTok using English singer and TV presenter Cilla Black’s “Surprise! Surprise!” to mock the Conservative Party’s plans …
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The Republican online ecosystem has gone into overdrive ahead of the first US presidential debate. Lawmakers and influencers are pushing wild conspiracy theories about President Joe Biden, and instead of coming up with anything new, they are recycling tired old allegations that have already been debunked—including claims that Biden will …
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In recent weeks, as so-called cheapfake videoclips suggesting President Joe Biden is unfit for office have gone viral on social media, a Kremlin-affiliated disinformation network has been promoting a parody music video featuring Biden wearing a diaper and being pushed around in a wheelchair. The video is called “Bye, Bye …
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won’t be on the presidential debate stage next week to answer questions, but he is fielding them on TikTok Live. On Thursday night, a group of TikTok creators livestreamed a town hall with Kennedy titled “The Sickening of America.” For around an hour, Kennedy, a noted …
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The Biden campaign is facing its first major cheapfake scandal this week. Doctored clips of Biden at the G7 Summit and a Hollywood fundraiser have spread across platforms like X, claiming to show Biden wandering off, mumbling unintelligibly, or, uh, even pooping his pants. It’s exactly the type of content …
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Jake Lang was arrested for his involvement in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. From prison, he has organized an armed militia that now has thousands of members nationwide. Today on WIRED Politics Lab, reporter David Gilbert explains how this new militia came to be and its …
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