It's no secret that from the moment President Trump's personal attorney stepped foot in the parking lot of Four Seasons Total Landscaping, that his 'all-star' legal team to stop duly elected President-elect Joe Biden from taking office, was more like a circus road show.
From strange drunken rants in state congressional hearings, to Rudy Giuliani's melting self-tanner, this whole debacle has provided endless memorable moments.
One of the largest issues for the Trump administration and their legal team has been their conspiracy theories and baseless claims—many of which they've successfully convinced part of the country to believe—are running directly into a brick wall of facts.
They're also almost indistinguishable from the kind of outrageous nonsense found on satire sites and parody accounts. And that's proving to be a problem.
Lawyer Sidney "Kraken" Powell has become one of the most egregious conspiracy theorists associated with the President. Despite being cut from President Trump's official legal team, she's still been wielding outsize influence over the inane 'stop the steal' movement.
So it should come as no surprise that last Friday, Powell retweeted this baseless claim from a Trump fan account:
Twitter/@tgpwlm
Now, you may think that in this baseless conspiracy, these allegedly tossed votes are supposed to have been for Trump. However, this is a prime example of how misinformation spreads on the internet, and how right-wing conspiracy theorists only amplify it.
Because the origins of this tweet might surprise you.
From @willsommer's Right Richter: Sidney Powell amplified a false claim that 3,000 ballots were "floating in Lake E… https://t.co/7dJcPxxcca— Jim Swift (@Jim Swift) 1607185922.0
Yes, that's right. The story originated with several satirical websites, whose articles were marked as satire. And the most ridiculous part is that the satirical allegation was about ballots for the previous season of "The Voice."
Within the satirical article where the claim originates is this quote
"Yeah, the problem is, they aren't being very honest about the whole thing. The bag is full of ballots, sure, but they're ballots for last season's finale of The Voice."
"We're pretty sure that show has never actually had a real winner, so…why all the hubbub? It's pretty silly, really."
So, yes, somehow a satirical article alleging dumped ballots for The Voice TV show made its way into MAGA Twitter, got twisted with the 2020 election, was taken as fact and then retweeted by one of the most recognizable faces of the 'stop the steal' movement.
Totally normal. Nothing to see here.
Some felt that the public faces behind this legal challenge are simply engaging in a grift.
@JimSwiftDC @bradheath @willsommer I think it's fair to say, more than anything else, these lawsuits are about the massive grift/cash grab.— Justin R. Jahnke (@Justin R. Jahnke) 1607189383.0
And every day, they send fundraising requests to gullible supporters telling them that if only they send $35, Trump… https://t.co/jpCl4QpRzb— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@Ana Navarro-Cárdenas) 1607404989.0
Others just couldn't believe how unhinged this all was.
@williamlegate You really can’t make this 💩 up these days, can you? https://t.co/s2qSgXOQt8— The Shadow Critic (@The Shadow Critic) 1607191156.0
@williamlegate It would be funny if it weren’t so stupid. It would be merely laughable if millions of rubes weren’t swallowing it down.— yoko 🇺🇸 the token lib (@yoko 🇺🇸 the token lib) 1607192181.0
@williamlegate Trumpies once again demonstrating they make zero effort to fact check. https://t.co/ZOC5MRBDjz— ArD (@ArD) 1607191213.0
And others simply wanted to seam Trump's entire 'legal' team disbarred.
I'll sat it again: When this is all over, Sidney Powell, @JennaEllisEsq, and @rudygiuliani need to be disbarred and… https://t.co/WNoiJ0kSSd— John Pavlovitz (@John Pavlovitz) 1607360481.0
@johnpavlovitz @JennaEllisEsq @RudyGiuliani At some point, disciplinary action for filing frivolous lawsuits repeat… https://t.co/HTNaQl2gy0— David Kemp (@David Kemp) 1607377566.0
@ariehkovler Again, @statebaroftexas you guys are up...what are you waiting for??? Disbar Powell— 5GFullyMAGNETIZEDDave (@5GFullyMAGNETIZEDDave) 1606919067.0
This circus can't end soon enough. Is it January 20, 2021 yet?