Trump Protestor Admits He Was Paid to Protest Donald Trump-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
A man who protested a Donald Trump rally has admitted that he was paid $3,500 to do so after answering a Craig’s List ad.
The Truth:
A fake news website is behind reports that a Donald Trump protestor has admitted that he was paid to disrupt a Trump campaign event in Arizona.
The story originated with a report that appeared at fake news site designed to look like ABC News to deceive readers. The story, which appeared under the headline, “Donald Trump Protestor Speaks Out: ‘Why I Was Paid $3,500 to Protest Trump’s Rally” reports:
PHOENIX A.Z. (AP) — For months now, rumors have circulated the Internet that individuals were being paid to protest at rallies held by presidential hopeful Donald Trump. Today a man from Trump’s rally in Fountain Hills, Arizona back in March has come forward to say that he was paid to protest the event.
“I was given $3,500 to protest Donald Trump’s rally in Fountain Hills,” said 37-year-old Paul Horner. “I answered a Craigslist ad about a group needing actors for a political event. I interviewed with them and got the part.”
Trump supporters have been claiming that protesters are being paid by the Bernie Sanders’ campaign, but Horner disagrees.
“As for who these people were affiliated with that interviewed me, my guess would be Hillary Clinton’s campaign,” Horner said. “The actual check I received after I was done with the job was from a group called ‘Women Are The Future’. After I was hired, they told me if anyone asked any questions about who I was with or communicated with me in any way, I should start talking about how great Bernie Sanders is.” Horner continued, “It was mostly women in their 60’s at the interview that I went to. Plus, all the people that I communicated with had an AOL email address. No one still has an AOL email address except people that would vote for Hillary Clinton.”
The report included a screen grab of the supposed Craig’s List ad for paid Trump protestors, too.
Hundreds of readers who were duped into believing the report was true commented on the story, and it was widely circulated on social media.
However, the site isn’t a trusted news source — it’s only designed to resemble one. The site’s URL is close to that of ABC News, only the imposter has “.co” added to the end.