Twitter for the first time put a fact-check label on tweets from President Trump, using the controversial tactic on messages in which the president complained there is “no way” that “mail-in ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent.”
It may be instructive that Twitter seized on the mail-in balloting tweets as the first issue from Trump’s rapid fire social media feed to slap with a fact-check label. Twitter did not disclose in its so-called fact-check it is partners with two groups financed by leftist donors that engage in voter participation efforts, including drives pushing mail-in balloting.
Twitter sits on the “Premier Partner” list of one of those groups alongside ViacomCBS, the merger of Viacom and CBS. Twitter’s so-called fact-check about Trump’s mail-in balloting cited CBS political reporter Grace Segers vouching for mail-in voting.
Analysts have posited such proposals help the Democratic Party. Republicans specifically fear the prospect of voter fraud, since mail-in voting would be harder to authenticate.
Yesterday, Trump tweeted the following, earning him the badge reading “Get the facts about mail-in ballots”:
Twitter did not disclose it is an active “Premier Partner” of Vote Early Day 2020, an election advocacy group seeking to educate voters that they can cast their ballots prior to Election Day, including via the vote-by-mail option.
The front page of the group’s website promotes mail-in balloting, telling voters that “more states are adopting additional Vote Early options, such as vote-by-mail, and we are expecting these changes to increase voter turnout. We want everyone to know their options.”
The organization suggests voters “throw a party or parade” so “friends can come together to fill-in their mail-in ballots.”
The website states:
Through parties at the polls and community parades to early voting sites, organizations across the country will inspire more Americans to vote early. Even in states without in-person early voting, friends can come together to fill-in their mail-in ballots.
The group’s mission statement includes mail-in options (emphasis added):
When Americans vote early, they ensure that last minute problems will not prevent them from casting their ballots – and help shorten voting lines on Election Day for everyone. But voting early rules – both for in-person and by-mail options – vary widely all over the country, causing confusion and preventing voters from casting their ballots. We’re here to make voting early easier. Given our current conditions with COVID-19, having multiple options to safely cast your ballot is critical.
Vote Early Day openly states it is supported by one organization: “Vote Early Day is a holiday for all Americans supported by a project at New Venture Fund.”
The New Venture Fund, or NVF, is in turn managed under an administrative agreement with the shadowy, massively funded Arabella Advisors strategy company that pushes the interests of wealthy leftist donors.
Arabella specializes in sponsoring countless dark money pop-up organizations advocating progressive policies and designed to look like grassroots activist groups, as exposed in a recent extensive report by conservative watchdog Capital Research Center.
Billionaire activist George Soros’s Open Society documents that it provided financing to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, one of four nonprofits run by Arabella Advisors, another being the NVF. Arabella nonprofits also evidence close financial workings with initiatives for the Democracy Alliance, another network of highly influential donors, including Soros.
Meanwhile, Twitter serves as a “Premier Partner” of Vote Early Day 2020 along with ViacomCBS and other media firms.
Twitter’s “fact-check” about Trump’s mail-in balloting cited Segers, the CBS political reporter, tweeting the following about mail-in voting:
Other listed media companies that are “Premier Partners” of Vote Early Day are BuzzFeed, MTV, Univision and USA Today.
More “Premier Partners” include leftist groups such as the League of Women Voters, the Democracy Fund, Alliance for Youth Organizing and Rise.
MTV recently partnered with Michelle Obama to host a virtual prom with the subtheme of increasing voter turnout. The television event is produced in partnership with When We All Vote, an organization for which Obama serves as a co-chair and that seeks to increase voter participation.
Organizers of the MTV event with Obama said in a statement the television Prom-athon would include a “special focus on commemorating another important milestone for young people this year: registering and voting in the national election in November.”
Becoming a “Premier Partner” for Vote Early Day, as Twitter did, requires activism on the part of each partner organization.
The group’s website states that to join as a “Premier Partner” an organization must (below are all direct quotes):
- Agree to include their name or logo in public materials (e.g. press release and website);
- Share their Vote Early Day activation plans with the Steering Committee in advance;
- Report back successes and feedback;
- Commit to a flagship on-the-ground activation, mobilize a national network of at least 50 partners, or reach 1 million people through digital or platform integrations
Vote Early Day is not Twitter’s only involvement in election advocacy. The social media giant along with Google and Facebook is also a 2020 partner for the National Voter Registration Day, which says it “wants to make sure everyone has the opportunity to vote.”
The National Voter Registration Day also pushes mail-in ballots, saying it seeks to educate citizens to “request mail-in ballots, learn about early voting options, and more.”
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, National Voter Registration Day says it’s working on “incorporating supplemental resources and messaging in our toolkits, posters, and trainings about how to vote by mail.”
The National Voter Registration is sponsored by the Democracy Fund, a charitable foundation created by eBay founder and liberal billionaire Pierre Omidyar.
Omidyar’s self-styled “philanthropic investment firm” the Omidyar Network, is also a funder of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which has partnered with Facebook to draft principals in an initiative to help determine whether a certain news story is “disputed.”
The Omidyar Network has partnered with the Open Society on projects and it has given grants to third parties using the Soros-funded Tides Foundation as a “fiscal sponsor.” Tides is one of the largest donors to left-wing causes in the U.S.
Twitter’s “fact-check” of Trump’s tweets on mail-in balloting, meanwhile, also cited the ACLU of Nebraska claiming “voting by mail is secure. It’s effective. It led to record turnout.”
The ACLU has been pumping materials urging Congress to pass coronavirus voting legislation that pushes mail-in voting. Soros’s Open Society Foundations donated $50 million to the ACLU.
Breitbart News extensively reported a slew of other progressive groups tied to Soros money have been working overtime to push mail-in voting.
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow.
Joshua Klein contributed research to this article. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein