Russia helped Donald Trump by buying Facebook ads for Jill Stein
It turns out the Russians weren’t merely buying Facebook ads aimed at promoting Donald Trump and bashing Hillary Clinton. Russia’s online election manipulation was much more sophisticated, and aimed to hurt Clinton by propping up two of her presidential opponents on the left: Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders and Green Party nominee Jill Stein.
Russia was running ads for Bernie Sanders shortly after he had dropped out of the race, in an apparent attempt at dissuading his supporters from getting behind Hillary Clinton, according to a new Politico report (link). Russia also ran ads for Jill Stein during the general election, in the hope of getting liberals to vote third-party instead of voting for Clinton. This hints at just how aggressive the Russians were in their efforts at rigging the contest against Clinton at various stages during the election cycle. It also raises new questions about possible Russian connections to the campaigns.
There is no known evidence whatsoever of Bernie Sanders coordinating or conspiring with Russia on any level. It appears Russia ran these ads behind his back, after he had already endorsed Clinton. However this does serve as a reminder that Sanders’ campaign strategist Tad Devine had previously worked with Paul Manafort and the Kremlin to get a Russian puppet elected in Ukraine. There has long been widespread suspicion that Devine may have been coordinating with Russia and the Trump campaign in 2016 without Sanders’ knowledge, though no specific evidence has emerged to support that suspicion. Jill Stein, however, is another story.
Jill Stein was photographed having dinner in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump adviser Michael Flynn in December of 2015. Flynn is confirmed to have taken Kremlin money; it’s not known if Stein took Kremlin money. She’s also tweeted pro-Russia sentiments. Now that it’s confirmed Russia was paying for pro-Stein ads on Facebook during the election, her connections to the Kremlin must be investigated.
