Democrats Believe Facebook Contributed to Hillary Clinton’s Loss To Donald Trump
“A publisher with a record of making stuff up is not likely to rank that highly on Google, and the equivalent ought to be the case on Facebook,” Clinton staffer tells Politico
Clinton campaign chief digital strategist Teddy Goff thinks that fake news shared on Facebook helped Donald Trump upset Hillary Clinton in the presidential election and plans to “take on” the problem.
“Everyone has the right to say what they want, have access to sites that they want, share what they want,” Goff told Politico. “But a publisher with a record of making stuff up is not likely to rank that highly on Google, and the equivalent ought to be the case on Facebook.”
On Sunday night, HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver slammed Facebook as a “cesspool of nonsense” and pointed to a fake story about the Pope endorsing Trump that was shared almost a million times.
“Fake facts circulate on social media to a frightening extent,” Oliver said. “There is now a whole cottage industry specializing in hyper-partisan, sometimes wildly distorted click bait.”
Facebook has come under intense scrutiny for what critics call its role in spreading misinformation and hoaxes about the presidential election, much of which was aimed at Clinton. Goff and other Democrats didn’t think the social media company would make drastic changes before the election, so they waited until afterwards to speak out.
“Two, three weeks ago, many of us are beginning to talk about what a big problem this is, both from the campaign and from the administration, and just sort of broader Obama orbit, and are talking about, this is one of the things we would like to take on post-election,” Goff told Politico. “This is something we were very aware of, saw zero percent chance Facebook was going to be compliant or work with us during the election, but wanted to take on post-election.”
Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg recently defended his company from accusations during the presidential election, but acknowledged they must work harder to “flag hoaxes and fake news” saying, “There is more we can do.”
In a post on his Facebook page on Saturday, Zuckerberg wrote: “We don’t want any hoaxes on Facebook. Our goal is to show people the content they will find most meaningful, and people want accurate news. We have already launched work enabling our community to flag hoaxes and fake news, and there is more we can do here.”
9 Democrats Who Could Challenge Donald Trump for President in 2020 (Photos)
Donald Trump shocked the world and beat Hillary Clinton to become the president-elect of the Unites States. He doesn’t take office until Jan. 20, 2017, but Democrats are already thinking about the next election. Here are nine Democrats who might be able to reclaim the White House in 2020.
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Michelle Obama
The First Lady is a terrific public speaker and one of the most likable members of the Democratic Party. She has said the job doesn’t interest her. However, if Trump isn’t unifying the nation as his term winds down, expect Democratic leadership to beg her to run.
Booker is a talented campaigner who is one of America’s most prominent African-Americans. The New Jersey senator is extremely popular among his peers, and his speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention was widely praised.
The Vermont senator is arguably the most popular left-leaning politician in America and came close to upsetting Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. WikiLeaks emails exposed how the DNC favored Clinton, which may embolden supporters who argue it's his turn. But Sanders is now 75 and may be considered too old in four years.
The Massachusetts senator could pick up supporters of the Bernie Sanders movement, and she’s not afraid to fight back against Donald Trump. "We are going to be smart, we are going to be organized, we're going to use our time and talents in a strategic and careful way, but we are going to fight back," she recently told MSNBC. "We are not going to turn this country over to what Donald Trump has sold."
The outgoing vice president considered running against Hillary Clinton in 2016 but decided not to after the 2015 death of his son Beau. Biden is popular, particularly with working-class voters whom Trump lured from the Democrats. But he's 73, and like Biden may seem to old in four years.
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Mark Cuban
Well, we can't laugh anymore at billionaire reality TV stars with no political experience. Cuban has shown a passion for politics and was a special guest of Hillary Clinton during a presidential debate. He is openly anti-Trump and might have the personality and attitude to beat the president-elect at his own game.
The governor of New York is a staunch supporter of same-sex marriage and gun control. Cuomo is popular in the Empire State and a close ally of Hillary Clinton.
The opposition party is already thinking about the next presidential election
Donald Trump shocked the world and beat Hillary Clinton to become the president-elect of the Unites States. He doesn’t take office until Jan. 20, 2017, but Democrats are already thinking about the next election. Here are nine Democrats who might be able to reclaim the White House in 2020.