Virginia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe has reportedly spent almost $100,000 in “fake news” advertising websites during his campaign in Virginia.
McAuliffe uses sites that disseminate disinformation and partisan propaganda
Gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe had an ad on his Facebook page that misleadingly looked like a name of a local news site; yet, the link leads to a website which promotes the Democrat candidate.
On top of this, the website McAuliffe had been using was described as “partisan propaganda” and labeled as disinformation.
Terry McAuliffe is so desperate, he's resorted to using fake news websites for his campaign ads.
“The websites have been widely described as disinformation and ‘partisan propaganda.’”⁰https://t.co/RyrOtQlIyZ
— America Rising (@AmericaRising) October 27, 2021
The troubling news arrives fewer than seven days before the gubernatorial election in Virginia; it also comes as the Democrat and Republican candidates fight up to the last vote with polls reflecting the candidates are in a tight battle.
The campaign advertisements used by McAuliffe are opaque and sophisticated. Just like any other candidate, he uses Facebook with the Democrats’ name in order to promote his campaign.
However, the former governor likewise has another Facebook page named, “The Download Virginia.” This then blurs the line between what is disinformation and what is a political campaign.
“The Download Virginia” page was silently launched by McAuliffe back in June. Although the name sounds more like a news organization, it hasn’t posted any photos or statuses; there were only 67 people who followed or liked the page.
Despite the page’s low number of followers, “The Download Virginia” has done so much paid advertising. Although these ads cannot be seen on the page itself, the information can be obtained through an Ad Library Report on Facebook.
According to the data obtained through the Ad Library Report, the McAuliffe campaign spent almost $471,044 on ads since June. The advertisements are distributed through this scammy page tangled with many more other websites.
These websites attempt to look like a credible news page, yet, in fact, they work for the McAuliffe campaign.
$471,044 spent by McAuliffe campaign on ads is expected to rise nearing election
The staggering price spent on ads is expected to rise leading to the day of the election, since McAuliffe runs not just one website. The advertisements contain comments and links to mainstream media which covers the McAuliffe campaign favorably.
Then, in an advertisement back in July, The Download Virginia published views of McAuliffe on small businesses. The advertisement likewise includes a link to a third-party site called “The Virginia Dogwood.”
The Virginia Dogwood likewise presents itself as a news website with articles talking about local matters in Virginia. It also describes on its page they deliver “fact-based” and “credible” reporting.
On its site, it says they are operated and owned by Courier Newsroom, which The Virginia Dogwood describes as a “civic” media company. However, the Courier Newsroom is in fact funded by liberals, particularly the dark money group called ACRONYM.
Terry McAuliffe buys fake news ads in effort to sway voters in tight Virginia governor race. In other words Democrats will do anything to win. So be prepared if lying doesn’t get it done, how about a little Dominion anyone? In order to defeat a Democrat, you must really kick ass
— TONEMAN 2.0 🇮🇹🇺🇸Italian- American (@0Toneman) October 27, 2021
According to the report by the Wall Street Journal, ACRONYM includes multibillionaire donors of the Democrat Party, such as Reid Hoffman, George Soros, and other movie producers.
