I get this sounds conspiratorial, but I don't know what to think about these.
The people finding these bots are the same ones who push the "russian hackers" narrative, as well as deny any dead voters influencing elections.
The GOP and conservatives have done dumb, corrupt shit, but this sort of shilling just isn't typical of them.
What does fake astroturfing/news look like? Some liar who preys on manipulating peoples trust to believe a lie, and then discrediting that person. Discrediting someone is the entire point. What is the goal of a fake news writer? Create a lie that looks genuine, attempt to have the target pick it up and believe it, then discredit the target for "believing bullshit".
I mean that’s how this always works: Someone posts something I write, then they find out it’s false, then they look like idiots.
My sites were picked up by Trump supporters all the time. I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don’t fact-check anything — they’ll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist.
But in recent months, Horner has found the fake-news ecosystem growing more crowded, more political and vastly more influential: In March, Donald Trump’s son Eric and his then-campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, even tweeted links to one of Horner’s faux-articles. His stories have also appeared as news on Google.
Just ’cause his supporters were under the belief that people were getting paid to protest at their rallies, and that’s just insane. I’ve gone to Trump protests — trust me, no one needs to get paid to protest Trump. I just wanted to make fun of that insane belief, but it took off. They actually believed it.
The main reason I don't get why the conservatives would shill like this, is that they've NEVER GIVEN A SHIT about social movements before.