Read on Twitter
I think Maajid has really gone down the rabbit hole in being gullible about spin, misinformation & conspiracy since the count. Yes, let all the legal processes play out. Recount etc. Chances of a decisive change really are nil. https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1325892992989859841
This was the worst example I saw. A terrible bullshit piece. Nawaz apologised for not realising it was from a racist conspiracy site. But he ignored that the central factual claim about a turnout spike in the specific piece he shared was simply bollocks https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1325113223906013184?s=19
His 'just asking for discussion' defence of this is weak & ridiculous.
- Why discuss 'how could WI turnout rise 30%' when it didn't (5%)?
- Having asserted those who wont discuss it think "2 + 2 =5" why hasnt Nawaz acknowledged that's what this piece did? https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1325037030510899200?s=19
- Why discuss 'how could WI turnout rise 30%' when it didn't (5%)?
- Having asserted those who wont discuss it think "2 + 2 =5" why hasnt Nawaz acknowledged that's what this piece did? https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1325037030510899200?s=19
It wouldn't take long to check. If this was gullibility, then essential to acknowledge it was wrong https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1325198227990261761?s=19
Obviously, if an eye-catchingly large spike in turnout was true (it was just false), the idea that an appeal to the laws of mathematics could prove that was *impossible* (as opposed to unlikely) would be utter gibberish.
Obviously, it will undermines credibility of aspiring to be a robust challenger of extreme conspiratorial nonsense on other topics if lack of judgement/scrutiny leads MN to become a gullible conveyor of extreme conspiratorial nonsense on this topic https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1325052565596364802?s=19
He is right to say process doesn't conclude until Electoral College vote *and* Senate ratifies of the EC vote (tho including that final step as source of uncertainty is unusual). Formal transition process does not wait for that moment, unless deadlocked EC https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1325387590489530369?s=19
While theoretically possible to express unlikely counter-zeitgeist opinion 'I reckon there could still be an amazing plot twist here, from recounts/legal challenges' without sharing misinfo and propaganda, the problem is sharing ridiculous misinformation to say this is likely
Another example which suggests there isn't much of an effort to check information before sharing it, so beware info being shared unless you can verify it elsewhere https://twitter.com/WashTimes/status/1325525833713324034?s=19
Newsweek commemorative edition cover is real, but its misleading to claim it is an analogy with calling the election for President Biden on the basis of votes counted. It was produced before election day: cock-up (assumption pre-vote by distributor) meant some got into stores
'Dewey defeats Truman' a better analogy - but not a close one to 2020 TV networks calling this race. (The cause is a mixture of hyper-partisanship by one pro-GOP paper, attempting to jump the gun for a scoop). Fascinating detail on its shifting headlines
https://web.archive.org/web/20121002211856/http://www.historybuff.com/library/refdewey.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20121002211856/http://www.historybuff.com/library/refdewey.html
This is Twitter and 'some memes fail' appears to be the response from Maajid Nawaz to requests that he might correct/withdrew demonstrably false misinformation which he chose to share https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1326087138316849153
This is getting worse. I told you so is an odd response to this nonsense https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1326929026947158023?s=19
There is no such report. https://twitter.com/iainmartin1/status/1327158445141798919?s=19
Context of this tweet
NYT report says this 'Dominion' claim is misinformation and an unfounded conspiracy theory https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/11/technology/no-dominion-voting-machines-did-not-delete-trump-votes.html
It looks like the 'Dominion' computer counting conspiracy is going to be President Trump's focus for his allegation that the election was stolen from him
Maajid is dedicated to pursuing this conspiracy theory on LBC
This is the AP account of the origins of this conspiracy claim. It was made in an anonymous blog comment from a Trump supporter. The comment claimed to draw on data from a report by Edison Research. The firm says there is no such report. https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-tweets-tall-tale-votes-13c104367924b8192b4fcecf334f7806
Maajid Nawaz is going all in on this Dominion softward conspiracy. He is now promoting QAnon advocacy of it. I have not seen him post one single thing challenging these Dominion conspiracy claims (though he insistently claims to be being neutral/balanced)
Maajid Nawaz believes he's doing this as a broadcaster offering neutral scrutiny. Calls critics of this bots, trolls and partisans.
But he is sharing lurid unverified claims, sharing no material that challenges those accounts, & has refused to retract demonstrably false material
But he is sharing lurid unverified claims, sharing no material that challenges those accounts, & has refused to retract demonstrably false material
I have not listened to how he is putting these conspiracies on the radio (sport takes priorty at weekends). LBC as an Ofcom-regulated broadcaster needs to keep a close eye on this. At best, this is deeply gullible of Nawaz & q.delusional in his self-image/response to challenges.
This was one other rabbit hole of unverified conspiracy memes about the softward company, along with the AP scrutiny finding this claim is false or mistaken. Again, no counter information published; no retraction.
https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-us-news-media-michigan-43bdaa186e3b8d9d897cae3bd0c6cdc0
https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-us-news-media-michigan-43bdaa186e3b8d9d897cae3bd0c6cdc0
Maajid's claim that the Feinstein story should be news looks very weak indeed, when the exposure of a driver was 7 years ago, had no link to the Trump era, and her husband has no link to the software company. Again, spreading unverified rubbish. https://twitter.com/AndrejNkv/status/1327555018107596800
Question for Maajid Nawaz who says he is striving for impartiality on the US election disputes https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1327568399501828098?s=19
Nawaz says
- first time US presidency is contested in his lifetime [he means the second]
- he has no conclusions
- he thinks 'paid PR agents for Biden campaign' are behind racial abuse on Twitter. He asks them to call it off as they're meant to be anti-racist & will look into it
- first time US presidency is contested in his lifetime [he means the second]
- he has no conclusions
- he thinks 'paid PR agents for Biden campaign' are behind racial abuse on Twitter. He asks them to call it off as they're meant to be anti-racist & will look into it
Nawaz says it took a month for Gore to concede, on the 13th December (so he may well read his Tweets).
He says America is on the brink of civil war, that he is a lonely peacemaker, as he has often been, but his critics are creeping towards fascism.
He says America is on the brink of civil war, that he is a lonely peacemaker, as he has often been, but his critics are creeping towards fascism.
"There is a route for Trump, that is just a fact'. '4 solid routes' for Trump. He is not saying they will come off.
1. SC may nullify the whole PA state count + recounts on 'fine margins'. The path is PA + GA + Wisconsin Arizona + Nevada
"A very plausible & very legal route"
1. SC may nullify the whole PA state count + recounts on 'fine margins'. The path is PA + GA + Wisconsin Arizona + Nevada
"A very plausible & very legal route"
2. 2nd "plausible" route is EC voters in 4 states may decide not to follow popular vote
3. final reason is General Flynn's "well regarded' lawyer said on Fox News alleged enormous treason via Dominion computers
"None of these are conspiracy theory" Nawaz says on @LBC
(3 is!)
3. final reason is General Flynn's "well regarded' lawyer said on Fox News alleged enormous treason via Dominion computers
"None of these are conspiracy theory" Nawaz says on @LBC
(3 is!)
'One big correction to my monologue' - he got the lawyer's surname wrong.
I do not think he understand consequence of the PA Brookvar case.
He is now bullying his listeners. It is true that faithless electors give Trump a "legal" route, but he is simply talking nonsense to call this hypothetical legal route a "viable" one (esp on faithless electors)
He is now bullying his listeners. It is true that faithless electors give Trump a "legal" route, but he is simply talking nonsense to call this hypothetical legal route a "viable" one (esp on faithless electors)
LBC senior reporter Matthew Thompson: this is the crucial distinction about the boundary for reporting on this https://twitter.com/mattuthompson/status/1327624419905331200
- It is v.wrong for anybody to racially abuse @MaajidNawaz
- I hope such users are reported + banned where appropriate.
- I can not see what evidence he had to broadcast on @LBC his unlikely allegation that "Biden's PR people" paid trolls to attack him https://twitter.com/nice_cuppa/status/1327614694543253505
- I hope such users are reported + banned where appropriate.
- I can not see what evidence he had to broadcast on @LBC his unlikely allegation that "Biden's PR people" paid trolls to attack him https://twitter.com/nice_cuppa/status/1327614694543253505
9 faithless electors across presidential elections, 1948-2012, 10 tried various gestures in 2016. All knew they couldn't change outcome.
- There aren't going to be a couple of dozen in 2020
- GOP leaderships in states mentioned have dismissed this notion https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-legislature-pennsylvania-b199b2debc87fbb20612a48835bc0dba
- There aren't going to be a couple of dozen in 2020
- GOP leaderships in states mentioned have dismissed this notion https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-legislature-pennsylvania-b199b2debc87fbb20612a48835bc0dba
Many of Maajid's claims (eg recounts, court cases, faithless electors) fall under category of being over-confident but not well-informed on US politics. Commentators are allowed to be over-confident & end up being wrong! So his 'viable path for Trump' stuff is OK at that level
Not over til Trump concedes/EC votes = formally true.
LBC might worry about
* Narrative why no-one but me will report truth (tilts to conspiracy)
* Undue credence to baseless allegations (eg Dominion), if don't report scepticism too
* 'Biden PR team paying trolls to attack me'
LBC might worry about
* Narrative why no-one but me will report truth (tilts to conspiracy)
* Undue credence to baseless allegations (eg Dominion), if don't report scepticism too
* 'Biden PR team paying trolls to attack me'
While Republicans at state level have dismissed idea they might overturn the popular vote, Nawaz technically correct that Democrat partisans selected by their state Dem party as Biden-Harris for President slate face no *legal* barrier in some states to not voting as pledged!
Prior to the election, Maajid Nawaz had said that he was persuaded that Biden was guilty of "treason", basing this on reports of allegations about the content of a laptop alleged to have belonged to Hunter Biden.
I didn't manage to follow the allegations about the laptop closely. This is an NBC report - a week after those tweets from Maajid- about trying but struggling to find out from the sources of these allegations what the content of the allegations were. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/here-s-what-happened-when-nbc-news-tried-report-alleged-n1245533
This is interview Nawaz referred to on LBC. Called her the "well regarded" lawyer to General Flynn (Flynn's guilty plea bargain for fraud not mentioned). Nawaz said "none of these are conspiracy". (Obvs, this is unverified allegation of massive conspiracy) https://twitter.com/NoorBinLadin/status/1327410244071415814?s=19
Nawaz told LBC listeners that Sidney Powell had said "I am going to release the Kraken" as a reason that he finds it plausible that she will have evidence for the allegation that the Dominion computers were used to steal/alter hundreds of thousands of votes
In this interview, Powell said
- this began in Chavez Venezuela
- many US Governors have a corrupt stake in this conspiracy
- December filing deadlines don't matter: this fraud is so massive it can nullify the result afterwards!
- doesn't know if being investigated by FBI
- this began in Chavez Venezuela
- many US Governors have a corrupt stake in this conspiracy
- December filing deadlines don't matter: this fraud is so massive it can nullify the result afterwards!
- doesn't know if being investigated by FBI
Nawaz account on LBC was these are credible allegations from a "well regarded" (?) source, which he says give Trump one more "viable" way to stay President (though MN isn't saying who will win in the end). I had not seen him report/share any scepticism https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1327404728318373889?s=19
"None of these are conspiracy theory" was what Maajid Nawaz told @lbc listeners at 2.20pm, immediately after saying Powell was "well regarded" & her Dominion allegations offered one more plausible path to Trump's re-election. (It's simply false to say its not a conspiracy theory)
Maajid Nawaz says that the legal and viable route that he sees to victory in the the presidential election for Donald Trump remains very much on tonight. https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1329493475813978115?s=19
"None of these are conspiracy theory" (LBC, 220pm last Saturday) is certainly a statement I would contest as false about the extraordinary conspiracy to steal the election being alleged by Sidney Powell, on Trump's behalf.
The conspiracy theory about Hugo Chavez' sleeper computer programme stealing the November 2020 election (having decided to let Trump win in 2016, for some reason) is set out, quoting Giuliani's own words about it here https://nymag.com/intelligencer/amp/2020/11/trumps-dominion-vote-fraud-election-conspiracy-theory-crazy.html?__twitter_impression=true
However, I do find some merit in the observation that today has indeed confirmed that at least one of the two campaigns in this election must be engaged in a ludicrously audacious fraud on the American public ...
I can't see what you would learn from watching the press conference a third time. I don't think this burning books analogy works. (This would be a tricky test to apply to every single lurid conspiracy theory about 9/11 etc, so sensible people may wait to see what they file)
Have we just seen the biggest crime in American history?
Maajid Nawaz thinks the events of the last week have shown that he is right, claiming "everything" he predicted has happened (but nobody else will admit that Trump has every chance of winning the election)
The idea that everything he predicted has happened is nonsense. But he has never acknowledged any of the events which close down the Trump route (eg lost cases, certification of Georgia, refusal of GOP state officials to countenance vetoing the EC slate) https://twitter.com/sundersays/status/1330213801304727553?s=19
Maajid says few of us realise that Trump's lawyer Dershowitz has predicted this will end in victory for Trump
Dershowitz says Trump team could win the legal point, but would be unlikely to overturn the PA result. He predicts Biden will be inaugurated
https://jewishjournal.com/news/325149/dershowitz-it-will-be-a-tall-order-for-trump-lawsuits-to-overturn-election/
Dershowitz says Trump team could win the legal point, but would be unlikely to overturn the PA result. He predicts Biden will be inaugurated
https://jewishjournal.com/news/325149/dershowitz-it-will-be-a-tall-order-for-trump-lawsuits-to-overturn-election/
The SC has allocated these responsibilities ( because there are now 9 justices again). It is simply an invention by Maajid Nawaz to claim that this is an intervention into the 2020 Presidential election, as checking the SC link would show https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1330200686089342987?s=19
I don't know who is giving MN his (mis)information, but he is just making things up here
https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/circuitassignments.aspx
https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/circuitassignments.aspx
MN describes this expression of concern by @Mohammed_Amin as a libel. "Fair comment" would suffice as a defence. MN can not argue Sidney Powell's conspiracy theory is not a conspiracy. Claim he has absorbed the Dominion conspiracy he has promoted is fair. https://twitter.com/Mohammed_Amin/status/1330216815314825217?s=19
For the record: Maajid Nawaz says that he is simply advising that we let the law do its job, not promoting any conspiracy theories.
The idea that the Supreme Court is going to throw out/nullify the Pennsylvania presidential election result is just a fantasy https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1330312995117953027?s=19
Maajid Nawaz (who last night claimed, most implausibly, that it is libelous to express dismay at how far he has absorbed conspiracy theories about the US election) continues this morning to pursue & promote the conspiracy theory about the Dominion computers stealing the election
It was this q gentle intervention from an admirer which MN described as a libel. Undoubtedly a view which many admirers as well as critics of Maajid's work with Quilliam share. His courageous advocacy for Uighur in China in sharp contrast to this nonsense https://twitter.com/Mohammed_Amin/status/1330216815314825217
MN has won damages when he has been libelled - inc over $3 million from SPLC. Has also secured retractions when his history of Hizb extremism (now renounced) falsely described as terrorism. By contrast, accurate statements + fair comment can't be libelous https://www.splcenter.org/news/2018/06/18/splc-statement-regarding-maajid-nawaz-and-quilliam-foundation
"Fascinating thread" on how almost everybody fell for the "myth" of a killer Corona virus pandemic. (Nb: MN says he has no opinion on this claim).
But the author of that thread believes in a full house of conspiracies: anti-semitism, Pearl Harbour, 9/11, Bill Gates and now Covid. MN really should feel qualified enough to have an opinion on the credibility of such a source, and to desist from amplifying him.
I did not know of Dr Binder previously but there are a lot of red flags on the penchant for extremism and conspiracy. Again, the just asking questions approach to this stuff requires a bit more rudimentary scrutiny, before sharing to 270k people. https://twitter.com/GregoryDavisHNH/status/1330581340157341696?s=19
This does appear to be a grand unifying conspiracy theory in which all the dots get joined: 9/11 truthers, climate change, that the Covid pandemic is fake, that election was stolen, that vaccine does not exist & can't have been tested. Bill Gates + the Zionists are key to it all
I fear frequency of repeated mistake of sharing extreme, repugnant sources is a direct byproduct of MN expressing loss of all faith in mainstream coverage of the election ("the borg"). So is relying on fringe sources + seems minded to ignore/dismiss all scrutiny of those sources.
This was just a US election conspiracies thread (the week after the US vote)! I didn't expect it within a fortnight to open up into a Covid pandemic conspiracy thread, still less a Great Unifying Conspiracy Theory of Everything thread.
Sidney Powell (the lawyer who said that she would "release the kraken" to demonstrate her extraordinary conspiracy of how the election was stolen) now appears to have been disowned by Rudy Giuliani and the Trump campaign legal team as nothing to do with them!
It's only 3 days since their joint press conference, when Giuliani said "I'm in charge of this investigation with Sidney and the people that you see here".
72 hours in Team Trump
Trump thought Powell went too OTT, (according to Washington Post reporter).
With states certifying results - in favour of the popular vote winner in each state - & Trump campaign's legal challenges proving to be without substance, the formal transition process to President-Elect Biden has now begun. EC confirmation to follow https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1331023040998760451
Maajid sees the perfunctory process as ascertainment as the heart-breaking walking of a tightrope. https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1331018036762054660
CNN report on President Trump's acceptance that the transition process to his successor can begin, alongside his insistence that his legal campaign to overturn the result will continue, and could still prevail https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/23/politics/transition-biden-gsa-begin/index.html
The Pennsylvania state results have been certified. (The idea that the US Supreme Court might nullify the state's presidential election vote was never a plausible).
Maajid Nawaz says we are about to find out whether "despite ridicule", he was simply "ahead of a history making story". Sidney Powell is due to file her claim (personally) that she has evidence of how the Dominion computers stole a Trump landslide for Biden, but got caught.
This a "stab in the back" narrative about the "enemy within" colluding with foreign agents. If the case is rejected, those who believe it may well deny the legitimacy of the elected government (a product of treason), making & legitimising calls for a revolution to overthrow it.
This was a link from (yet another) heavily anti-semitic website (for at least the third time this month, perhaps because this conspiracy happens to be very popular on antisemitic websites, but is much more seldom to be found outside of them) https://twitter.com/TomNwainwright/status/1331658984567279616?s=19
Impossible to exaggerate how off-the-wall this "SCIF" theory is
- Trump knew about the plot, decided to mount a sting
- watched it unfold in real-time from a SCIF facility
- is now about to make the great reveal
"Plausible allegations of geopolitical interference"
- Trump knew about the plot, decided to mount a sting
- watched it unfold in real-time from a SCIF facility
- is now about to make the great reveal
"Plausible allegations of geopolitical interference"
The proof point is that the White House has secure intelligence facilities, ergo Trump must have uncovered the plot, then watched it in real time to collect the evidence (which he is holding back for now!)
Examples of this conspiracy meme http://freshamericannews.com/sidney-powell-confirms-rumor-is-true-trump-was-watching-the-fraud-happen-in-realtime-on-election-night-from-eisenhower-building-scif/
Examples of this conspiracy meme http://freshamericannews.com/sidney-powell-confirms-rumor-is-true-trump-was-watching-the-fraud-happen-in-realtime-on-election-night-from-eisenhower-building-scif/
This is the gist of the Dominion/SCIF allegation so far. MN thinks the rest of us have suppressed/ignored, it for reasons of bias, despite its plausibility.
This is now straightforward misinformation from MN, pretending it is ignored "news"
- certification has not been suspended by a judge
- it is not a public hearing, nor a "PA State Senate hearing", as Trump falsely calls it.
MN's Tweet has got a flag from Twitter as "disputed"
- certification has not been suspended by a judge
- it is not a public hearing, nor a "PA State Senate hearing", as Trump falsely calls it.
MN's Tweet has got a flag from Twitter as "disputed"
It's a basic point of fact that this is *not* a hearing of the PA state legislature. (Guiliana/Trump campaign, the GOP have hired a hotel room to hold an event of their own). I don't see how somebody who wants to maintain status as a broadcaster/journalist could not know that
Here, "Trump's team *have won* last minute *public hearings* " is meaningless or misleading.
What on earth could "won" mean? (They decided to hold this, their own event, which has no standing with the judiciary or legislature. Nobody awarded them anything here).
What on earth could "won" mean? (They decided to hold this, their own event, which has no standing with the judiciary or legislature. Nobody awarded them anything here).
It is reportable (accurately)
"Trump campaign holds hotel event, alleging fraud, after PA results certified.
- It is not clear if intend to file allegations in court too".
To report it inaccurately ("state legislature" hearing) is just to mislead people https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1331734027309641729
"Trump campaign holds hotel event, alleging fraud, after PA results certified.
- It is not clear if intend to file allegations in court too".
To report it inaccurately ("state legislature" hearing) is just to mislead people https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1331734027309641729
Trump campaign/Guiliani federal lawsuit over Pennsylvania certifying result dismissed, as it has no merit or content. https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1332375530843336705?s=19
The court notes that, in court, the campaign has said it is not making an allegation of fraud in this case.
Maajid Nawaz says he needs to remind us that this shows that he has been right all along on the US elections, and is "being pilloried by so many online *simply for being right all along*"
The context of his claim to be right all along is he now endorses a [crackerjack] Trump campaign claim that the Pennsylvania courts (state & federal) are part of the cover-up & conspiracy! (Nb: endorsing that tosh rather undermines his 'just let law take its course' narrative)
![The context of his claim to be right all along is he now endorses a [crackerjack] Trump campaign claim that the Pennsylvania courts (state & federal) are part of the cover-up & conspiracy! (Nb: endorsing that tosh rather undermines his 'just let law take its course' narrative)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/En2-7ZLXMAAwlJq.jpg "The context of his claim to be right all along is he now endorses a [crackerjack] Trump campaign claim that the Pennsylvania courts (state & federal) are part of the cover-up & conspiracy! (Nb: endorsing that tosh rather undermines his 'just let law take its course' narrative)")
![The context of his claim to be right all along is he now endorses a [crackerjack] Trump campaign claim that the Pennsylvania courts (state & federal) are part of the cover-up & conspiracy! (Nb: endorsing that tosh rather undermines his 'just let law take its course' narrative)](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/En2-7iXXEAcWqgB.jpg "The context of his claim to be right all along is he now endorses a [crackerjack] Trump campaign claim that the Pennsylvania courts (state & federal) are part of the cover-up & conspiracy! (Nb: endorsing that tosh rather undermines his 'just let law take its course' narrative)")
He also seems to characterise his critics as "paid-for farmed PR bots". (He made an absurd - apparently paranoid - claim on LBC that the Biden PR team are targeting him. Hard to think LBC anchors are on their radar!).
* Trump appointed the judge.
* Its really unclear how appealing this latest v.narrow PA case to Supreme Court (the right to amend their submission again, after screwing it up) would be of any use at all to Trump on the PA Electoral College votes or the EC arithmetic.
* Its really unclear how appealing this latest v.narrow PA case to Supreme Court (the right to amend their submission again, after screwing it up) would be of any use at all to Trump on the PA Electoral College votes or the EC arithmetic.
I don't see how the SC deciding to hear this earlier case (the segregated mail-in ballots, that arrived 3 days after election day) could change the PA outcome, or help Trump in the EC. (Advice welcome on what this case does)
I simply don't understand what the theory here is ("that the number of votes is secondary") as to how/why there could be a remedy here that would shift the presidential election outcome in the state.
