On Friday, Judge Merchan sent a letter to all parties regarding a social media post that said a juror said cousin Trump would be convicted. More evidence has surfaced that makes the post look like a hoax.
Read: The Republican Presumptive Nominee for President is A Convicted Felon
Judge Merchan sent a letter to all parties in the case after the New York court system's Facebook page flagged a post that said:
“My cousin is a juror and says Trump is being convicted,” the user wrote in a comment a week ago, according to the judge. “Thank you guys for all your hard work!!!!”
This post caused some buzz among the legal eagles of social media, but there was a problem.
When people started digging, it became clear that the poster was an internet troll.
MSNBC's Cathy Fang noted that the post was made ten days before the verdict, or nine days before the jury will ever reach the case.
Assuming this is the same “Michael Anderson”, I don't think the post is genuine. It looks like it was made on May 20th. Trump's decision was made only ten days later, on May 30.
Additionally, the poster's FB profile reads: 🤷🠻†â€ï¸ pic.twitter.com/YmnVbl6omM
Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) June 7, 2024
This nonsense will no doubt be used by Donald Trump to claim the trial was rigged, which was probably the poster's point.
Instead of riots in the streets or anything Trump promised, we have internet trolls trying to discredit the trial.
It's understandable that Judge Merchan would want to be cautious given the historic nature of the case and the appeals process that will surely follow, but shouldn't someone have done some research and asked some questions before the judge notified all parties?
This sort of thing happens on social media, every minute, every hour. Pointing out the hoaxes will only cause more problems, but before Trump can even say it, it appears the juror note was not real.
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Jason is the managing editor. She is also the White House Press Center and Congressional Correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a BA in Political Science. Her graduate work focused on public policy, specializing in social reform movements.
Awards and professional memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association
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