(THREAD)
1/ NEW from me via @snopes: The Macedonian-run Facebook group Kayleigh McEnany OFFICIAL had 456,000+ members.
FB told us it "used compromised accounts to mislead people about its origin."
More uncovered pages appear in tweet 3 in this thread.
snopes.com/news/2020/09/1…
2/ Right now, 3 of the accounts that managed the group are still available on Facebook. One of them is named Elisabeth Kim, but features a profile photo of a woman with a name tag that says "Marti Jordan."
Kayleigh McEnany OFFICIAL was removed just weeks ahead of the election.
3/ Snopes also found these pages that were managed from Macedonia:
- Police and LEOs (192k likes): archive.vn/HTD2J#selectio…
- First Lady of the United States (2k likes): archive.vn/8edU2
- MAGA (30k members): archive.vn/ALgeB
The "First Lady" page is still active.
4/ Love Native Americans (118k likes) was run from Macedonia, and had survived since June 2016. It was removed earlier this year: archive.is/LIsU2.
It featured artwork of Native Americans, as well as memes with U.S. law enforcement, American nostalgia, and small cabins.
5/ As for Kayleigh McEnany OFFICIAL, Macedonian efforts to publish right-wing American political content were well-documented following the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
4 years later, it still managed to find a home and an audience on @Facebook.
snopes.com/news/2020/09/1…
6/ It is worth noting that the Macedonian admin for Kayleigh McEnany OFFICIAL was looking for what appeared to be an American moderator, without disclosing that he was in Macedonia.
Often moderators in these groups appear perhaps more legitimate than the admins, and this is why.
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