President Donald Trump’s campaign is definitely struggling to gain traction with weeks to go until Election Day. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden routinely leads Trump by double-digits in national-level polls, and Biden leads in a slew of critical swing states as well. As this turmoil unfolds, Trump is sticking to what he’s stuck to for the bulk of his time in office: angry tweets. On Sunday, Trump tweeted repeatedly about a recent New York Post story that claimed to reveal contents from the laptop of Hunter Biden, who is Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son. The problem is that there is no apparent independent evidence verifying the contents of the story. The story may hinge on Russian disinformation.
Trump tweeted:
‘Joe Biden is a corrupt politician, and everybody knows it. Now you have the proof, perhaps like never was had before on a major politician. Laptop plus. This is the second biggest political scandal in our history!’
Joe Biden is a corrupt politician, and everybody knows it. Now you have the proof, perhaps like never was had before on a major politician. Laptop plus. This is the second biggest political scandal in our history!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2020
The actual origin of the material that is supposedly from Hunter Biden’s laptop is unclear. The New York Post got it from longtime Trump ally (and former New York City mayor) Rudy Giuliani, who in turn apparently got it from a computer repair shop owner in Delaware. That owner has suggested that it’s Hunter Biden himself who dropped off the laptop for a repair and then never came back for it — but this owner also says that they have a medical condition that prevents them from being able to have seen for certain who dropped the device off. Reportedly, federal authorities are investigating the potential that the material originated with Russian disinformation efforts.
On Sunday, Trump added on Twitter:
‘Very proud of the @nypost, my former “hometown newspaper”. They have said and shown what everyone knows about Sleepy Joe Biden. He is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN!!!… Corrupt politician Joe Biden makes Crooked Hillary look like an amateur!’
Very proud of the @nypost, my former “hometown newspaper”. They have said and shown what everyone knows about Sleepy Joe Biden. He is a CORRUPT POLITICIAN!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2020
Corrupt politician Joe Biden makes Crooked Hillary look like an amateur!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2020
Again — at this point, it’s decidedly unclear what the New York Post has actually “said and shown.” The publication may have spread Russian disinformation. A Russian intelligence unit that was partly responsible for the 2016 election-tied cyberattack against the Democrats reportedly hacked Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian company that Hunter Biden worked with. U.S. intelligence analysts have been concerned that the stolen material would be released in October alongside forgeries, according to The New York Times. On Sunday, Trump also — incredibly! — repeated his ludicrous claim that Mexico will “pay” for the “wall” that his administration has been working on at the southern U.S. border. According to no remotely reasonable understanding of the idea will Mexico pay for the wall.
Not my Wall, which will soon be finished (and Mexico will pay for the Wall!). Totally unrelated, but I think Steve will be just fine. By the way, is this the same job hopping Tim O’Brien that headed Mini Mike Bloomberg’s humiliating 2 Billion Dollar Presidential run? Debate prep! https://t.co/cQfEtszRrB
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2020
Check out Twitter’s response below:
