Within the wake of a debate efficiency that has been extensively panned as disastrous, former president Donald Trump and his supporters have tried to elucidate the night away by posting conspiracies a few “rigged” occasion, deeply misogynistic assaults on vp Kamala Harris, and wild claims in regards to the vp’s earrings.
Inside minutes of the controversy ending, a model new conspiracy emerged on X, focusing not on the content material of what was mentioned however on the earrings that Harris was sporting.
“It seems Kamala Harris was being coached by utilizing earphones embedded in her earrings throughout the ABC presidential debate towards President Trump,” one pro-Trump disinformation account with over half 1,000,000 followers posted on X. One other main pro-Trump account additionally shared the conspiracy whereas the controversy was nonetheless happening, and that publish has been considered over 5 thousands and thousands occasions.
The declare is predicated on the truth that the earrings Harris was sporting bear a passing resemblance to a pair of so-called “audio earrings” that had been offered on Kickstarter final yr. “NOVA H1 Audio Earrings—the primary and solely wi-fi earphones embedded in a pair of pearl earrings,” the product description reads.
This conspiracy shortly gained traction amongst Trump supporters on Tuesday evening as they grasped to excuse his poor efficiency. Quite a few pro-Trump clickbait accounts on X and different supporters reshared the conspiracy, together with Laura Loomer, a failed Florida congressional candidate and Trump acolyte who traveled with the previous president to the controversy.
All through the controversy, Harris deftly attacked Trump’s weak spots—the dimensions of the crowds at his rallies, his inherited wealth—and the previous president reacted angrily, lashing out with nonsensical solutions and outright lies.
Trump’s solutions had been stuffed with disinformation, together with lies about abortion, elections and the Capitol riots. He even resorted to pushing the false conspiracy about unlawful Haitian immigrants consuming the pets of individuals in Springfield, Ohio.
“They’re consuming the canine. They’re consuming the cats. They’re consuming the pets of the people who dwell there,” Trump claimed, repeating a baseless conspiracy that has been trending on social media platforms like X in latest days and promoted by vice presidential candidate and Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio.
This declare and lots of others had been shortly fact-checked and debunked by ABC Information hosts and debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, a indisputable fact that clearly additional incensed Trump.
Nearly instantly after the controversy completed, Trump reiterated the conspiracy a few “rigged” debate from ABC Information that he has been selling for the final week.
“I believed that was my greatest Debate, EVER, particularly because it was THREE ON ONE,” Trump wrote on Reality Social, the place he tried to defend his declare about migrants consuming pets by sharing hyperlinks to unsubstantiated rumors.
This line of assault was echoed by Trump’s greatest supporters. “Bizarre how the hack moderators at [ABC News] are solely ‘Truth checking’ Trump and permitting Kamala to lie nonstop,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X. “The Faux Information is the enemy of the folks!”
