The Russian Hoax? More like the Russian Hope. Russia is still trying to help Trump.
By Curt_Anderson October 21, 2024 3:28 pm Category: Fact Check (0.0 from 0 votes)
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A video shared widely on X purports to show a former Mankato West High School student [Matthew Metro] accusing Tim Walz of sexually assaulting him when the Democratic vice presidential candidate was a teacher at the Minnesota school decades ago. But the man in the recording is not who he claims to be, and researchers say the unfounded narrative has the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign that has targeted presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the run-up to the 2024 election.
And while a man named Matthew Metro did attend the school, the person in the video shared online is not him.
"Matthew is my brother and I can confirm that the video going around is definitely not him," Michael Metro told AFP in an email.
The Washington Post interviewed the real Matthew Metro, who confirmed he is not the man in the video and said no such interaction with Walz ever occurred. AFP contacted Metro for comment, but no response was forthcoming.
The purported first-person testimonial -- which originated with a largely inactive X account and spread through a suspicious website -- resembles the work of a Russian propaganda group that researchers have dubbed Storm-1516, said Darren Linvill, co-director of Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub.
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Comments on "The Russian Hoax? More like the Russian Hope. Russia is still trying to help Trump.":
A video shared widely on X purports to show a former Mankato West High School student [Matthew Metro] accusing Tim Walz of sexually assaulting him when the Democratic vice presidential candidate was a teacher at the Minnesota school decades ago. But the man in the recording is not who he claims to be, and researchers say the unfounded narrative has the hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign that has targeted presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the run-up to the 2024 election.
