On Friday, a Roy Moore parody account tweeted a more realistic message, and received more “retweets” and “favorites” than many of the real tweets from the Alabama Senate candidate.
“I am officially announcing this afternoon I filed lawsuits against each of my false accusers for libel and or slander. And I will not settle, see you in court,” the fake account tweeted, receiving 6.8K “retweets” and 14,000 “favorites.”
I am officially announcing this afternoon I filed lawsuits against each of my false accusers for libel and or slander. And I will not settle, see you in court. #RoyMoore #Alabama #Senate #Election #RoyMooreSenate #MAGA #FakeNews
— Honorable Roy Moore (@RoyMooreSenate) December 9, 2017
The parody account slyly retweeted Moore right before this, and this action might have convinced Twitter users to give attention to the fake account.
https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/939325121482903552
Even so, the users should have known better. After these tweets, the parody account posted this message: “Doug Jones said tonight at a rally ‘I’ve never met a baby I wouldn’t abort.'”
Doug Jones said tonight at a rally “I’ve never met a baby I wouldn’t abort.” #RoyMoore #Alabama #Senate #Election #RoyMooreSenate #MAGA #ALSEN
— Honorable Roy Moore (@RoyMooreSenate) December 10, 2017
The real Roy Moore is edgy, but that tweet was just stupid. Previously, the fake account “retweeted” a message from David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
The account also tweeted, “Global warming is like the holocaust in that they both never happened!” Moore has never denied the reality of the Holocaust.
Global warming is like the holocaust in that they both never happened! #RoyMoore #DougJones #Alabama #Senate #Election #RoyMooreSenate #MAGA #ALSen
— Honorable Roy Moore (@RoyMooreSenate) November 27, 2017
The parody account also responded to accusations of sexual assault against Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) with “Save some for me!”
Save some for me! #RoyMoore #DougJones #Alabama #Senate #Election #RoyMooreSenate #AlFranken #ALSen https://t.co/xwxsQR1zTW pic.twitter.com/BocT5lW2Ak
— Honorable Roy Moore (@RoyMooreSenate) November 18, 2017
The account first appeared in late October, delivering the message, “Just stoned a homosexual to death in a Waffle House parking lot. #MAGA.”
Just stoned a homosexual to death in a Waffle House parking lot. #MAGA #DonaldTrump #RoyMoore #MikePence
— Honorable Roy Moore (@RoyMooreSenate) October 29, 2017
These obviously fake messages did not receive nearly as much attention as the tweet promising lawsuits against the accusers. As of Sunday, the parody account only had 430 followers, but it is still remarkable that its most successful message garnered almost 7,000 “retweets.”
Twitter Screenshot.
Many of Roy Moore’s real messages have not received that kind of traction. The candidate’s most recent tweet — “Trump says ‘get out and vote for Roy Moore'” — only has 1.9K “retweets” and 4.6K “favorites.”
https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/939521983221510144
Even a strong, red-meat tweet quoting President Donald Trump on receiving rights from God, not government, only received 3.3K “retweets.”
https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/939321599861383168
On Friday, Moore tweeted the Bible passage about taking up the armor of God, and only one of those tweets received as many as 1,000 “retweets.”
https://twitter.com/MooreSenate/status/939125323815366656
Even so, the differences between the real Roy Moore account and the parody are clear. Moore’s true account has the “verified” blue checkmark, not to mention more than 78,000 followers.
Twitter screenshot of Roy Moore’s true Twitter account.
As of yet, it does not seem like any news outlet has taken up the fake Moore’s promised lawsuit as a news story. Even so, it is concerning that so many Twitter users seemed to think it came from Moore himself.
The social media team on Moore’s campaign may need to ask Twitter to remove this parody account.
Twitter has recently come under fire for suspending PJ Media’s Washington, D.C. editor Bridget Johnson without explanation. Shortly thereafter, the social media company admitted to misapplying and misunderstanding its own rules, surrounding President Trump’s infamous retweets of Muslim videos taken out of context.
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