President Donald Trump retweeted an apparent fan Saturday night. The fan received the RT from Trump after posting a photo of the president with the caption, “Trump working hard for the American people…thanks.” Trump returned the gratitude.
Thank you Nicole! https://t.co/KlWN05uFOx
It seemed like an innocent enough exchange. Shortly after the commander in chief bestowed the RT on the user, @ProTrump45, however, people started questioning the legitimacy of the user, whose name is listed on her profile as Nicole Mincey.
As Salon pointed out, Mincey appears to be a Twitter bot with an account set up to sell pro-Trump merchandise.
All signs point to Trump thanking an advertising campaign using fake Trump supporter accounts to sell Trump #ProTrump45 brand clothes. pic.twitter.com/PsLlEVoz3A
Bob Schooley, a screenwriter and TV producer, investigated @ProTrump45 and exposed not only this account but also others that appear to be bots that were set up to show love to Trump. These numerous accounts appear to have taken and altered stock photos from the same website.
Schooley’s investigation yielded an informative thread.
So the person Trump retweeted today that's accused of being a bot. She joined Twitter in January, a full blown Trump believer.
This "profile" of her quotes from a Daily Caller piece...https://t.co/JGhu6s8WhT
... which is apparently an advertorial provided by "her."https://t.co/Ry7Ij2ImGG
I didn't see any real autobiographical details, such as college name or parents name.
There's also this person promoting her, who claims Buzzfeed on her bio, though she doesn't have any pieces there.https://t.co/2Ad8F6Y5e4
There's also this person promoting her, who claims Buzzfeed on her bio, though she doesn't have any pieces there.https://t.co/2Ad8F6Y5e4
Something's a bit odd about her bio shot. pic.twitter.com/AYJtiiUNCY
Just your typical young hipster Trump supporter. https://t.co/EyRTxxtfRk pic.twitter.com/KyCUHM67ap
What's really cool is when the bots complain about fake news. pic.twitter.com/e0fLJUe48U
Literally dozens of these memes on this bot account. pic.twitter.com/i4k31mrrZi
#6 She isn't a real person. pic.twitter.com/p81dYu2rNV
Most of these accounts tweet each other. It's hilarious how many use the same T-shirt models. https://t.co/0AhpjACMHp
Never let it be said that Trump doesn't have diverse fictional followers. pic.twitter.com/qbt7UdmOpK
In conclusion LOL. pic.twitter.com/MFvQ6y4lgs
It's not so much these fake accounts exist, it's that outlets like WND and Daily Caller give them legitimacy by writing profiles about them.
The takeaways from this story: stay woke. Though we have no idea whether Trump was aware this account is (probably) a bot, wild political gesturing happens everywhere, even Twitter. Don’t believe every surface-level tweet you come across.
And, if you happen to be a stock photo model, there is a chance you’re being portrayed as a Trump supporter on Twitter.
