Bullying is an old and weak tactic for those who are incapable of handling another person's success. Rooted in jealousy, all bullies show their hands in one way or another.
Case in point: Donald Trump and his MAGA bully pulpit, who'd rather make up lies and spread full-on falsehoods about Democrats rather than just accept the truths they don't like.
Earlier this month, a rumor began circulating on Twitter after a now-defunct account calling itself "DocNetyoutube" posted that he had spoken with "a former student" of Democratic Vice President nominee Tim Walz who accused him of sexual abuse.
Soon after, the account began circulating a deep-fake video of a man speaking to the camera repeating the false claims about the Minnesota Governor's sexual predation during his tenure as a high school teacher and football coach.
The same account had a history of elevating other conspiracies was mysteriously deactivated shortly after the accusations gained ground. It was unclear whether the account had been offlined by the account owner or if it had been suspended by Twitter.
Coach Walz's real former students immediately took to social media to defend the VP nominee.
Experts believe that the Russia-aligned network called Storm-1516 was behind the account, reported Wired. Storm-1516’s content only shares deep-faked primary sources, intentionally duping American viewers into believing the fabricated documents, audio, and videos support their baseless conspiracies.
NBC News also investigated the prolific group—whose false narratives have lured politicians at the highest levels of government, including Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance—and found Storm-1516 was responsible for at least 50 conspiracies in the last year alone.