6mo ago

US conservative influencers say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign

www.theguardian.com US conservative influencers say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign

Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson addressed allegations that a company they were associated with had been paid to publish videos with messages in favour of Russia

Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson addressed allegations that a company they were associated with had been paid to publish videos with messages in favour of Russia

A number of high-profile, conservative influencers in the US have said they are “victims” of an alleged Russian disinformation campaign, after the Biden administration accused Moscow of carrying out a sustained campaign to influence the outcome of November’s presidential elections.

Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson published statements on Wednesday evening addressing allegations that a US content creation company they were associated with had been provided with nearly $10m from Russian state media employees to publish videos with messages in favour of Moscow’s interests and agenda, including over the war in Ukraine.

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6mo ago

US conservative influencers say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign

www.theguardian.com /us-news/article/2024/sep/05/tim-pool-benny-johnson-influencers-russia-disinformation

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6mo ago

US conservative influencers, including, Tim Pool, say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign

www.theguardian.com /us-news/article/2024/sep/05/tim-pool-benny-johnson-influencers-russia-disinformation

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6mo ago

US conservative influencers say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign

www.theguardian.com /us-news/article/2024/sep/05/tim-pool-benny-johnson-influencers-russia-disinformation

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56 comments

HAHAHAHAHAHA
"We didn't know where the money came from?!?! Why would we ever ask why they wanted us to say Russia is super cool???"
I'm positive most, it not all of these other right-wing media shitheads like Tucker Carlson, NewsMax hosts, Bannon...etc have all received dirty Russian money, and they know it.
We need this all to be brought out in the open ASAP.
- "I was just following orders"
  "I was under the imperius curse!"
  
  “It was the beat! The beat got to me!!”

Things that are objectively true:
They parroted pro-Putin talking points.
They were paid by Russia.
They claim to be victims of a Russian smear campaign.
How does that even work?
- I guess according to the allegations only the founders of Tenet Media or whatever it was called knew the money was coming from Russia and they hid it from the talking heads.
  But like... How much money do these people have to be getting paid before they have a thought to question where it's coming from? Dim Tool was apparently getting like $100k a WEEK from them. Like at what point does it start to get suspicious?
  Edit: I was misremembering. Apparently it was $100k a week so that's $400k a month.
  
  100k/month to post pro Russian videos. The company was giving them talking points.
  Tim pool weasely claims he has full editorial control, but doesn't say how much of their editorial direction he "decided" to take, and how often.
  
  100k a month?! God damnit that's it I'm getting Soros on the phone he owes me way more than the zero he's paid me this far!
- Well you see they thought they were pushing Russian propaganda out of the goodness of their hearts. Turns out they could have been paid to do so and are now victims because someone else was paid to do it while they did it for free.
- They were paid by Russia.
  I think that they can dispute that unless you add the word “indirectly“ before “paid”?
  Obviously it does look slightly worse to actually be paid in rubles, and obviously it’s still bad even if it’s pass-through, but want to be clear when we’re stating objective facts.
  Also I may be wrong but that was my impression.
  
  It'll be indirect due to sanctions regardless. Not like they can do a direct deposit to a US bank.

Russian assets deny being Russian assets. Cool beans, ya fuckin’ traitors.

- Conservatives working with the commies.

Nobody being paid $400,000 per month is a victim. "Accomplice" is the word.

I believe they're confusing the term victim with the word volunteer.
- unindicted co-conspirators?

Well, if being a victim means 400k a month going into my pocket I can only say where do I sign up!
Seriously though. It is obvious getting paid around $2,500 an hour is pretty fucking suspicious. They definitely knew they were engaging in fraudulent behavior.
- Willfully ignorant. As long as you don't ask the questions you cannot be held accountable... Right?

If you rob a bank and get shot by police, are you a victim of a bank robbery?
- If you get paid by russia for spreading propaganda and get caught by the DOJ, are you a victim of russian propaganda?

This is IMPOSSIBLE because Republicans are KNOWN to do their Own Research!
- Very underrated comment, that one got a snort out of me. lol

"I don't come up with this stuff. I just forward it along. You wouldn't arrest a guy who's just delivering drugs from one guy to another."
I'm waiting for one of them to pull out the Michael Scott defense!

I'll accept that they were victims if they henceforth renounce the stupid shit they've spouted for the last decade.
If I'm behaving in a certain way that makes me attractive to cartoonishly evil Putinesque cunts, I don't care how benign the behaviour is, I'm not doing it anymore. If as a result of these revelations, Tim Pool et al. dial down their divisive nonsense, even if it's only by 10%, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
I'm not holding my breath, though.

Tim Pool mugshot wo that stupid fucking beanie, pls, pls, pls 😬
- Male pattern baldness.
- I'd love to see him sporting an orange beanie to match his jumpsuit.

“Okay it happened, but I didn’t know about it”
Next I assume will be
“Okay it happened and I did know about it, but it’s too late to do anything about it so it doesn’t matter”

I took the rubles and made the content! That makes me the victim!

Sounds like treason to me.

Fucking idiots. How the hell are they unable to see that they’re just useful idiots???
- The Cult is good. Life depends on The Cult. Enemies of The Cult are everywhere. Your grandfather loved The Cult. Let’s all enjoy some information from The Cult.

They were victims of getting rich by knowingly spouting Russian talking points. Even if they weren't sure the money was coming from Peter Thiel or Vladimir Putin, that's what they were doing.

DARVO.

These clowns are victims of pro-Russian disinformation in the same way that David Berkowitz is a murder victim.

- Kinda reminds me of an alien in The Last Starfighter.

The equivalent of “my wife did it.”
They say this shit all the time. They don’t accept responsibility for anything they do.

Waterboard them for the truth.
- Now that I would subscribe

I've been studying the propaganda of Tim Pool for years and years. The content focus shift from the alarmist "we're all progressives, but these progressives have taken it too far and we need to reel it in" to "Democrats are all evil incarnate and we need to vote Republican to save the world" was a deliberate and calculated long-term conversion campaign beyond what I'd expect someone with Tim Pool's resources should have been able to strategize and execute.
It won't surprise me if the DOJ decides to push charges for unregistered foreign agents, but it could also backfire with such high profile figures by playing into censorship rhetoric. Election season would be the worst time for it, if at all.

They weren't victims of anything.
These were co-conspirators, and they won't know true victimhood until the hands of the American people wrap around their throats.

How are they not in prison awaiting trial yet

How dare they be manipulated to shill for russia with less than adequate bribery!

Hasnt shut them up though

Yea, "victims". Hand me some soap so I can cry.
- Soap's not the best for that sort of thing.
- Suckers

Victims who get raging mad if you point out things like this about their talking points. Not even the least bit concerned about the truth, just about spreading whatever they think helps their cause.