A disinformation push to subvert the election is well underway, and it is coming straight from U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies. The goal: to somehow stop a victory by former Vice President Joe Biden, or, failing that, undermine his legitimacy before he can take office.
Trump¡¯s false declaration of victory in the small hours of Wednesday morning quickly united hyperpartisan conservative activists and the standard-bearers of the right-wing media, such as Breitbart, with internet trolls and QAnon supporters behind a singular viral message: #StopTheSteal.
But its impact has become apparent far beyond the internet, with the theme dominating conservative talk radio and the prime-time lineup on Fox News. There, Trump-aligned hosts pressed the false notion that the vote counting in the crucial, still-undecided states was illegitimate ¡ª the sort of message that was drawing flags on Twitter and Facebook but flourishing elsewhere.
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