In a rambling, two-hour-plus conversation in an X Space, Elon Musk caved to former president Donald Trump on policy issues that directly affect the billionaire’s businesses, like energy policy and climate change. Trump dominated the conversation, appearing to speak with a pronounced lisp and at times leaving little room for …
Read More »Black Sororities and Fraternities Are Mobilizing Online and in Secret Chats for Voter Turnout
On the same day that former president Donald Trump said vice president Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black,” Harris was at a Black sorority conference in Texas. “As a proud member of the Divine 9, when I look out at everyone here, I see family,” said Harris, speaking on July …
Read More »Gamergate’s Legacy Lives on in Attacks Against Kamala Harris
Back in August 2014, the misogynistic online campaign that became known as Gamergate was something that bubbled up in the anonymous, dark corners of the internet that only a select few even knew existed. Ten years later, the tactics used against Gamergate targets like Zoë Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian—boosting lies, …
Read More »The Trump Campaign Is All In on Dude-Bro Politics
Over the past few weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have both made some huge plays to attract specific groups of men: young ones, in Trump’s case, and white ones, in Harris’. Harris’ supporters have been hosting huge Zoom calls organizing “white dudes,” while Trump’s made …
Read More »The Right Is Still Pushing Election Denial—and Pillows
The election denial movement lives on, thanks in part to the efforts of well-funded and well-organized far-right activists. Today on the show, CNN correspondent Donie O’Sullivan joins WIRED Politics Lab to talk about his forthcoming documentary examining election deniers’ new tactics, and what happens after the November vote. Leah Feiger …
Read More »Elon Musk Has Turned X Into His Personal Political Playground
Ahead of the US elections, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, has used the platform as his own personal political bullhorn. On July 26, Musk posted a video of vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris in which a deepfake of her voice appears to make her say …
Read More »X Is Boosting the Far Right’s UK Riots as Telegram Scrambles for Control
As asylum centers are boarding up ahead of another predicted day of violent protests across the UK on Wednesday, X owner Elon Musk has stoked tensions by labeling UK prime minister Keir Starmer “#TwoTierKier” and spreading a far-right conspiracy theory that claims white rioters are being dealt with more severely …
Read More »Kamala Harris’ Campaign Is a Windfall for Influencers
After President Joe Biden stepped down and Harris announced her candidacy, excitement quickly swelled around the new campaign. The KamalaHQ account on TikTok quintupled in followers within the first week, the campaign tells WIRED, and the new Harris-focused content received 232 million views and more than 33 million likes. This …
Read More »How Project 2025 Would Put US Elections at Risk
The winner of the 2024 US presidential election will confront complicated questions about whether the government is doing enough to protect the country from cyber threats. But one leading conservative group is sidestepping those questions and pushing to shrink the government’s main cyber agency, calling it a bastion of far-left …
Read More »Kamala Harris and the Paradox of Progress
Inside the belly of the Georgia State Convocation Center Tuesday night, electric over the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency—or perhaps dead set on wanting to ward off another Trump White House—a crowd that cut across generations erupted into a 10,000-person swag surf. There was no mistaking the pandemonium. In …
Read More »