buzzfeed--2020-09-13--Peter Thiel Met With The Racist Fringe As He Went All In On Trump

The venture capitalist and Facebook board member staked his reputation on a Trump presidency .
Now what does he have to show for it ?
Four years ago , billionaire venture capitalist and Facebook board member Peter Thiel made one of his biggest bets : He went all in on Donald Trump .
The normally tight-lipped and enigmatic Thiel gave a very public imprimatur as a prominent speaker at the Republican convention , tying his reputation as one of the most successful figures in modern tech to a presidential candidate despised throughout Silicon Valley .
“ Tonight , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the convention , “ I urge all of my fellow Americans to stand up and vote for Donald Trump.
” He made history as the convention 's first speaker to declare himself `` proud to be gay '' and he extolled Trump not as “ a return to the past ” but rather a return to “ that bright future.
” Thiel was used to making risky bets .
He was a startup veteran , a PayPal cofounder who wrote Facebook a check for $ 500,000 months after it launched .
But Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted in on that round .
Still , just a week after the Access Hollywood tape leaked of Trump boasting about sexually assaulting women — a clip that sent other prominent Republicans fleeing — Thiel ponied up $ 1.25 million .
The donation was well known .
But what has not been previously reported is just how much Thiel was willing to gamble on Trump ’ s MAGA movement during the 2016 election .
His bet went far beyond money , speeches , or even mainstream Republican politics .
Even as Thiel staked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he met in private with the racist fringe that felt emboldened by Trump ’ s rise to power .
BuzzFeed News can reveal that in at least one instance during the summer of 2016 , Thiel hosted a dinner with one of the most influential and vocal white nationalists in modern-day America — a man who has called for the creation of a white ethnostate and played a key role in an effort to mainstream white nationalism as the “ alt-right.
” And then Thiel emailed the next day to say how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Among those on the racist right , Thiel ’ s outreach raised hopes that his financial bet on Trump would extend into the ascendant alt-right movement , which despite its prominence was a collection of small and often cash-strapped organizations .
One avowed white nationalist privately speculated that Thiel ’ s money and influence could have made him “ our George Soros.
” Thiel ’ s wager on Trump paid off , at least at first , and the Republican candidate ’ s victory ushered him into a new echelon of political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new administration and won a direct line of communication with the White House .
Palantir , the data analytics company he cofounded , is flush with government contracts and rushing to go public ahead of the November election .
Facebook , where he is a board member , counts the Trump campaign as one of its largest political advertisers , and partly avoided the ire that peers such as Google and Twitter have faced from the administration .
The people Thiel helped elevate in government now oversee billion-dollar budgets and national security decisions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still remain in positions of power in the administration and he ’ s maintained fleeting contact with Trump officials , the Silicon Valley magnate has distanced himself from the president and his 2020 campaign , according to sources who spoke with BuzzFeed News .
He has made no media appearances or penned any opinion pieces in support of Trump , as he did in 2016 .
More tellingly , he ’ s given no money so far to the president ’ s effort to retain the White House .
Although Thiel has been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , his write-down on a presidential investment during an election year is due in part to the administration ’ s disastrous response to the coronavirus .
As the economy tanked and millions got sick , Thiel became furious , as first reported by the Daily Beast .
Two people close to Thiel have confirmed that the pandemic was a breaking point for the technocrat , who once hoped electing a political outsider would disrupt bureaucracy and bring about radical change and innovation in government .
Asked about Thiel ’ s lack of involvement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ It ’ s no secret that Peter Thiel has been a long and dedicated supporter of the president and the many policy achievements the Trump administration has made on behalf of the American people.
” If you have more information or a tip regarding white nationalism and tech and political institutions , contact rosie.gray @ buzzfeed.com and ryan.mac @ buzzfeed.com , or reach us securely at tips.buzzfeed.com .
Thiel ’ s personal victories over the last four years came with risks that are only now becoming apparent .
He was able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political power , but his efforts also brought him into contact with the darkest elements of that power , and to an administration whose competence he doubts .
Thiel ’ s bet worked until it didn ’ t .
He has now decamped from Silicon Valley , where he was no longer welcome in some tech circles , for Los Angeles , where he lives with his family .
BuzzFeed News sent a detailed request for comment this week to a representative for Thiel .
Thiel did not respond .
Facebook and Palantir @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s interactions with the white nationalist far right .
Thiel ’ s friends say the famed venture capitalist viewed the Trump campaign as he would a Silicon Valley startup : It was an investment , two people told BuzzFeed News .
By the spring of 2016 , Thiel considered Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton presidential nonstarters , both because of their politics and their already-established networks of power .
But over on the Republican side , Trump was showing a surprising durability among voters , even as the party establishment made an all-out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an opportunity for Thiel “ to get in on the ground floor , ” a friend of Thiel ’ s previously told BuzzFeed News .
A longtime libertarian who dabbled in eccentric ideas like seasteading — artificial island communities in international waters far from governmental jurisdiction — and life extension , Thiel had made occasional forays into mainstream politics .
Thiel had given millions to presidential longshots like Carly Fiorina and Ron Paul .
He was also an early supporter of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz , donating to his campaign for state attorney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his successful 2012 Senate race .
In Missouri Republican Josh Hawley , whom he supported for state attorney general before he became senator , Thiel found a fellow enemy of Google .
But Trump was different .
By the spring of 2016 , Thiel was telling those in his close circles that he thought the reality television star had a better shot of winning than people thought , a belief that was fortified when Thiel ’ s former favorite , Cruz , dropped out in May .
The investor was named a California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ candidate and his family for the first time in person in Cleveland ahead of the convention in July .
On paper , there was little in common between the candidate and Thiel beyond their places on the Forbes Billionaires list .
But Thiel was intrigued by Trump ’ s outsider appeal , his supposed non-establishment quality that might shake up what the investor saw as a staid and bloated bureaucracy .
And there were personal motivations , said one person who was close to Thiel at the time .
That person said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a potential way to sell his assets while avoiding scrutiny .
Because he owned chunks of Facebook and the still-private Palantir , Thiel ’ s stock sales could trigger concerns from the market that all was not well with the companies .
A Trump win and a potential administration appointment for Thiel , the thinking went , could allow him to sell his stakes and possibly avoid capital gains taxes without damaging the reputation of the companies and triggering a follow-along sell-off from other investors .
In May 2016 , after he turned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News editor Milo Yiannopoulos ’ s podcast , Thiel invited the provocateur to have dinner at his home in Hollywood Hills the following month .
Yiannopoulos has largely been shunned from the right since BuzzFeed News published footage of him performing a Nazi salute and a conservative news outlet posted video of him appearing to endorse pedophilia .
But correspondence during the height of Yiannopoulos ’ s popularity previously obtained by BuzzFeed News suggests Thiel ’ s libertarianism might be something darker .
“ He ’ s fully enlightened , just plays it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better known as far-right blogger Mencius Moldbug , wrote about Thiel in an email to Yiannopoulous in late 2016 , as BuzzFeed News previously reported .
Yarvin , a software developer who counts Thiel as an investor in his former company Tlon , used his writings to advance an anti-democratic worldview that helped form the basis of the “ Dark Enlightenment ” movement , which posits that democracy has outlived its usefulness and that governments should instead be led by authoritarian figures .
Newly uncovered emails seen by BuzzFeed News show white nationalist @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the summer of 2016 .
On July 2 , Peter Brimelow , the founder of leading white supremacist website VDare , emailed his star writer Kevin DeAnna to chastise him for freelancing for other outlets .
Brimelow , who later asserted that “ Hispanics do specialize in rape , particularly of children , ” also wanted to know : Why hadn ’ t his writer kept him updated on an upcoming meeting with Thiel ?
“ I am fed up with being surprised about e.g .
this meeting with the Right Stuff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Brimelow wrote , with his wife , Lydia Brimelow , copied on the message .
“ You are being paid in part to keep me abreast of Alt Right developments and you ’ re not doing it.
” The Right Stuff is a white nationalist website and message board founded by the activist Mike “ Enoch ” Peinovich , which hosts podcasts named Daily Shoah and Fash the Nation — references to the Holocaust and fascism , respectively .
DeAnna , an influential white nationalist who pens pieces for VDare and has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the movement like American Renaissance and Counter-Currents , under the pseudonyms “ James Kirkpatrick ” and “ Gregory Hood , ” wrote back the next day defending himself .
“ Not sure why I ’ m getting in trouble for the Thiel thing , ” he wrote , adding that he had told Lydia Brimelow about the event , which he had heard about from an individual named “ Greg.
” “ And she ’ s the only person I ’ ve told as it is totally secret .
I thought you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coulter — a longtime friend of Thiel ’ s and conservative hardliner — Peinovich , and Brimelow did not respond to requests for comment .
On July 30 , 2016 , Thiel opened up his email to exchange pleasantries with guests from his dinner party the previous night .
As a renowned business leader , he was accustomed to hosting salon-style meals that brought together executives , intellectuals , and just about anyone else he found interesting .
The dinner that Friday night was a little different .
Termed the “ Right Wing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ email sent by one attendee , the event featured an individual that the billionaire , despite his flair for controversy , has never associated with publicly .
“ Kevin — really enjoyed meeting you last night , ” Thiel wrote from an email address associated with his personal investment fund , Thiel Capital .
“ I may be in DC towards the end of September , and let me know [ if you ] make it to SF anytime !
” DeAnna , though not a household name , had by that time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 10 years , and had played a key role in channeling white nationalist ideology into the emerging alt-right .
After graduating from the College of William and Mary in Virginia , DeAnna joined the conservative Leadership Institute , and founded Youth for Western Civilization in 2006 .
The group , designed to be a more radical version of established conservative campus groups , was a launching pad for a new generation of white power activists .
YWC boosted the profile of Richard Spencer , the white nationalist leader , by inviting him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and 2011 .
In 2013 , DeAnna dubbed the creation of an ethnostate “ the great dream of the White Republic.
” DeAnna did not respond to questions from BuzzFeed News .
DeAnna also served as a Trump evangelist in his community .
He was among the voices on the fringe who exhorted their peers to get on board with Trump and work within the system instead of marginalizing themselves outside it .
For Spencer ’ s website Radix Journal , DeAnna wrote in 2015 urging support for Trump , even though some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics .
“ Ultimately , of course , this is a sideshow , ” DeAnna wrote .
“ Real change will occur by building our own institutions , markets , and tribes , and fomenting revolutionary consciousness among the forgotten men of our Hollow Empire .
But electoral politics will affect us , even if we try our best to ignore it and remain independent of it.
” DeAnna ’ s email with Thiel was prompted by Brendan Kissam , a former Tea Party activist from Philadelphia .
Kissam met Thiel in 2010 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fundraiser at Thiel ’ s New York City apartment for the gay Republican group GOProud .
According to a source who had spoken with Kissam , the activist and Thiel kept in touch after the fundraiser ; in January 2011 , a user identifying themselves as “ Brendan Kissam ” commented on a critical post about Thiel on LGBTQ website Queerty , defending the article ’ s subject and referring to him as “ Peter.
” Kissam was quoted in a June 2016 Philadelphia Inquirer story about gay Republicans voting for Trump , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the candidate .
In 2018 and 2019 , Kissam appeared in videos for VDare under the pseudonym Wilson Hewlett , two sources familiar said ; photographs and videos of Kissam identifying him under his own name appear to show the same person presented as Hewlett on VDare ’ s videos .
Kissam did not respond to requests for comment .
On the morning of July 30 , 2016 , Kissam wrote to Thiel and DeAnna in the email with subject line “ Right Wing Dinner Squad III ” : “ Howdy Peter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looking forward to you guys getting to meet , and last night proved fantastic !
I ’ m sure you two will [ have ] plenty strategy to bounce back and forth , and I look forward to hearing about it.
” Thiel wrote to DeAnna later that day , and DeAnna responded the following day : “ It was a real honor meeting you and thanks for hosting all of us ( and putting up with all of us staying so late ) .
” It is unclear who else DeAnna was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us.
” What Thiel and his guests discussed at their July 2016 dinner also remains a mystery .
But Thiel ’ s dinner coincided with the apex of the alt-right movement ’ s influence in mainstream political discourse .
That summer , Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton gave an entire speech about the alt-right , elevating the movement into a central issue in the last months of the campaign and linking them to her opponent through Steve Bannon , Trump ’ s then–campaign CEO and former chair of Breitbart News .
Days earlier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump in July had provided an opportunity for emboldened white nationalists to demonstrate their influence , and they converged on Cleveland .
Spencer came to town , as did Brimelow and notorious far-right troll Charles C. “ Chuck ” Johnson , who was spotted in the convention hall .
Johnson has stated that he doesn ’ t believe that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust and claimed that the Nazi gas chambers were not real .
“ It ’ s amazing , ” Spencer said on the night of a “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Quicken Loans Arena the night before Thiel spoke .
“ We ’ ve taken over the right.
” The party ’ s attendees reportedly also included Thiel ’ s associate Jeff Giesea , a fellow Stanford graduate and former employee at Thiel ’ s hedge fund Thiel Capital Management who was becoming increasingly connected in far-right circles .
Giesea reportedly gave $ 5,000 to Spencer ’ s organization and published a pseudonymous guide to donating to alt-right groups .
( Giesea previously told HuffPost that he did not write the guide .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ story .
Thiel cemented his backing of Trump with a $ 1.25 million donation in October and a speech that month at Washington , DC ’ s National Press Club .
In that talk , he defended his choice to back the nominee even in spite of the recent release of the explosive Access Hollywood tape .
“ No matter what happens in this election , what Trump represents isn ’ t crazy and it ’ s not going away , ” he said .
Although Thiel was denounced by large swaths of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , he still found sympathetic ears in its executive suites and boardrooms .
At Facebook , employees raised concerns that their board member was campaigning for an openly racist candidate who had glorified grabbing women ’ s genitals .
In response , CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a note to employees the month before the election saying that “ there are many reasons a person might support Trump that do not involve racism , sexism , xenophobia , or accepting sexual assault.
” “ We can ’ t create a culture that says it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ half the country because they back a political candidate , ” Zuckerberg wrote .
Later that month , however , Facebook employees raised more concerns about Thiel after news reports resurfaced comments on race and sexual assault from a book he coauthored in 1995 .
While Thiel went on to apologize for calling some rapes “ seductions that are later regretted ” — after pressure from Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg , according to two sources — he remained on the board .
“ Mark is very loyal to folks , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Peter Thiel has made it clear that he ’ s invested in the company from the beginning and he ’ s been on the board a very long time.
” Trump ’ s surprise electoral victory would make Thiel even more indispensable to Facebook and Zuckerberg , giving the social network a line into the White House .
It also proved another notch in Thiel ’ s belt , boosting his contrarian credentials and elevating him into the mainstream consciousness .
That January , Thiel joined Trump ’ s executive transition team , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the incoming administration , while aided by associates from Palantir and his family office Thiel Capital .
In that position — where he was dubbed the “ shadow president ” by his employees — Thiel worked to place his own allies in positions on the National Security Council , the Department of Defense , and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy , where his former chief of staff Michael Kratsios now serves as US chief technology officer .
Another associate , Jim O ’ Neill , who served as managing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ firm Mithril Capital Management , was also a final candidate to run the Food and Drug Administration despite having no medical degree .
While O ’ Neill ’ s quest for the job ultimately failed , Forbes reported that Chuck Johnson had helped to arrange meetings for him with conservative influencers and political groups in an attempt to build interest in his nomination .
Johnson recommended a dozen other names to Thiel for other government positions , according to Forbes , including Ajit Pai , the current chair of the Federal Communications Commission @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Mr. Johnson whatsoever and is not aware that they have ever met or spoken , '' FCC spokesperson Brian Hart said in a statement to BuzzFeed News .
Chuck Johnson and O ’ Neill did not respond to requests for comment .
Thiel also met with government bureaucrats , including those who had the potential to benefit Palantir and Facebook .
In January 2017 , he met with Francis Collins , the director of the National Institutes of Health , who was appointed by Barack Obama in 2009 and ultimately continued his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to emails obtained by student researcher Andrew Granato and shared with BuzzFeed News , showed they talked about ways to “ liberate ” young scientists from training in postdoc programs and philanthropic-funded research .
They also discussed Palantir , a company in which Thiel is the largest individual shareholder and serves as chairman .
“ I am looking forward to learning more about Palantir ’ s current areas of interest , ” Collins wrote on Jan. 12 in an email thanking Thiel for the meeting .
In September 2018 , NIH signed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thiel-chaired big data company , and recently used its software to aid in its response to the coronavirus pandemic .
According to a recently filed business prospectus , the majority of Palantir ’ s revenue for the first six months of this year came from government contracts .
An NIH spokesperson did not return an emailed request for comment .
By the inauguration , Thiel ’ s standing with the new administration was undeniable .
Weeks before he took office , Trump called Thiel a “ very special guy ” while grasping his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Trump Tower that also featured executives from Facebook , Amazon , Apple , and Google .
They had all been summoned by the transition team and Thiel , Trump ’ s link to the nation ’ s new center of industry .
“ He got just about the biggest applause at the Republican National Convention , ” Trump said of Thiel .
“ He ’ s ahead of the curve , and I want to thank him.
” Those weeks of political victory for Thiel coincided with a public reckoning for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ portray itself as a gentler , more mainstream-friendly iteration of white nationalism .
Richard Spencer was caught in November shouting “ Heil Trump ” while others performed Nazi salutes at an event hosted by Spencer ’ s think tank .
The incident caused a bitter row in alt-right circles and drew unwanted attention to the dark underbelly of the movement .
As the alt-right splintered at the start of Trump ’ s presidency , Thiel appeared at the DeploraBall , a party at the National Press Club in Washington that was organized by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Timed with Trump ’ s inauguration , the event , which banned Spencer , was seen as a coming-out party for the nationalist far right .
Spencer ’ s banishment and Thiel ’ s presence indicated a new mainstream taking shape on the right .
While the more radical elements of the movement became marginalized , the DeploraBall crowd was still able to attract a high profile Trump donor like Thiel .
Thiel again met with people adjacent to the white nationalist fringe in the first year of the Trump presidency , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ event .
In 2017 , he attended a dinner organized by Giesea at a restaurant in downtown Washington , DC , with a number of figures from right-wing circles , among them Scott Greer , a now-former Daily Caller writer who wrote under a pseudonym for Spencer ’ s Radix Journal , and Darren Beattie , a former White House speechwriter who in 2016 spoke at the H.L .
Mencken Club , a conference that has often provided a forum for white nationalists .
Greer and Beattie did not respond to requests for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Trump presidency , Thiel , who did not take any administration position , continued to make himself available to the White House .
He appeared at a June meeting for the newly formed American Technology Council that was attended by Apple CEO Tim Cook , Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos , Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella , and Oracle co-CEO Safra Catz .
That month , he was also approached for a role as chair of the President ’ s Intelligence Advisory Board , an influential oversight position in the intelligence community , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ built to corporate America , however , was shattered by Trump ’ s defense of white nationalists following the events in Charlottesville , Virginia in August 2017 .
After the president blamed violence on “ both sides ” following the killing of a 32-year-old counterprotester , tech giants including Apple , IBM , and Microsoft distanced themselves from the council , which was ultimately disbanded in embarrassment by the administration .
Meanwhile , Thiel sought to extend his influence in more traditional conservative circles .
As BuzzFeed News previously reported , he explored @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2017 with Roger Ailes , the late , disgraced godfather of Fox News , and , separately , with the billionaire Mercer Family , the former patrons of Breitbart News .
And though that never came to fruition , the man who bankrupted Gawker Media via a series of clandestinely bankrolled lawsuits continued his interest in media .
Facebook also benefited from Thiel ’ s links to the Trump administration .
As the social network fought off unfounded allegations of bias against conservatives , Thiel became the ultimate buffer : a conservative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out to make amends every time right-wing personalities complained about alleged censorship .
And while Thiel had sold off the bulk of Facebook shares and has wanted to leave the board , according to two sources , he has remained , in part due to his loyalty to Zuckerberg .
That ’ s proved useful to both the White House and Facebook .
Thiel accompanied Zuckerberg at a secret dinner at the White House with Trump and Jared Kushner last October , one stop in their tour of Washington , DC , to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antitrust regulation .
Thiel was also one of the biggest internal opponents of fact-checking political ads on Facebook , according to the Wall Street Journal , a controversial policy that has allowed politicians like Trump , one of Facebook ’ s largest customers , to present outright falsehoods on the social network as long as they ’ re paid for .
Palantir , Thiel ’ s main financial holding , has thrived during Trump ’ s three and a half years in office , with revenue growing by 49 % in the first @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 480 million compared to the same period last year .
Led by CEO Alex Karp , who once said “ it would be hard to make up someone I find less appealing ” than Trump , the big data company has signed contracts with federal agencies whose ranks were staffed with people vetted by Thiel and his associates during the transition .
In 2019 , it won a Pentagon contract worth up to $ 800 million , while also providing software to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement .
Those deals have bolstered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it heads toward going public at the end of 2020 .
Those close to Thiel said he believes this is the window for the company , which has never had an annual profit , to hit the market .
A Biden presidency could change the company ’ s momentum , and with Trump in office , Palantir has become a formidable DC contractor , said two sources familiar with the billionaire ’ s thinking .
Palantir spokesperson Lisa Gordon declined to comment for this story citing the Security and Exchange Commission ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s public market debut .
The past few years have also seen Thiel retreat from the hothouse of Silicon Valley .
Calling the region ’ s liberalism too intolerant , he loudly disassociated himself from the nation ’ s tech capital .
He ceded some management duties of his famed venture capital outfit Founders Fund to a lieutenant and relocated permanently to his multimillion-dollar home in the Hollywood Hills .
( Palantir has also said it ’ s moving from Palo Alto to Denver . )
Thiel also started a family .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ an elaborate ceremony in Austria in 2017 , the two had a baby daughter , according to those close to the couple .
The changes in his life , however , haven ’ t distracted him from politics .
People connected to him still remain in positions of power , among them Kratsios , who in July was appointed to a Department of Defense job where he ’ ll oversee a $ 60 billion Pentagon budget .
Thiel ’ s ideas continue to find their way into policies .
He pushed for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war with China and , according to the Wall Street Journal , accompanied Zuckerberg to a White House dinner with Trump and Jared Kushner , where the Facebook CEO raised concerns about rival TikTok .
( Zuckerberg has since told employees that he doesn ’ t think TikTok came up as a discussion topic at the meal . )
Thiel ’ s line of thinking that American companies doing business in China amounts to providing technology to the Chinese Communist Party has also been parroted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stanford University in which Pompeo railed on China for its human rights abuses , he met privately with Thiel , according to two people familiar with the event .
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment about the meeting .
Yet Thiel has been noticeably quiet on Trump as the election approaches , even as he has supported other candidates .
Thiel put close to a million dollars behind hard-right anti-immigration advocate Kris Kobach in the Republican primary for Kansas ’ s open Senate seat , which he lost @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer of the billionaire ’ s family office Thiel Capital , also flirted with the idea of running to unseat Republican Sen. Martha McSally , but ultimately decided against the move , according to the Arizona Republic .
Masters did not respond to requests for comment .
Beyond the Kansas race , in which he gave $ 850,000 to a super PAC supporting Kobach , Thiel hasn ’ t publicly thrown his money behind any other candidate this cycle — Trump included .
Those close to Thiel say he is upset with how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus pandemic and that his relationship with the president is fraying .
Two months before Election Day , Thiel still shows no signs of getting involved .
Instead , he ’ s focusing on Palantir , which unveiled its S-1 financial statement — one of the first steps in going public — late last month .
While Thiel has said very little about Palantir , the company ’ s CEO , Alex Karp , attacked Silicon Valley ’ s “ engineering elite ” and issued a vehement defense of Palantir ’ s work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The engineering elite of Silicon Valley may know more than most about building software .
But they do not know more about how society should be organized or what justice requires , ” Karp wrote in the business filing .
“ Our company was founded in Silicon Valley .
But we seem to share fewer and fewer of the technology sector ’ s values and commitments.
” Thiel and his company ’ s distancing from the tech establishment mirrors his step back from the Trump campaign .
And in the end , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the alt-right movement hoped-for .
In an email from this April viewed by BuzzFeed News , Greg Johnson , the publisher of white nationalist website Counter-Currents and author of The White Nationalist Manifesto , was still fuming over the “ Heilgate ” incident and blamed Richard Spencer and others for making the movement too toxic for big donors like Thiel .
Johnson , who said he never met Thiel , didn ’ t deny the email ’ s accuracy to BuzzFeed News , but said he was just speaking of Thiel in a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with “ big money.
” Spencer and his think tank National Policy Institute were “ being eyed for larger donations , but he blew it .
A lot was possible in 2016 , before Hailgate , ” Johnson wrote to other alt-right leaders .
“ I do n't think Peter Thiel is going to become our George Soros after all this , ” Johnson continued .
“ There is simply no calculating the setbacks caused by these kooky and treasonous people.
” ●


buzzfeed--2020-09-15--People Are Sharing The Major Ways The World Might Change After COVID-19, And It's Actually Uplifting

`` Honestly , I think ( and hope ) it 's going to lower barriers to work for people with @ @ @ @ @ are supposed to be ADA compliant , but that 's only a small part of @ @ @ @ @ promise and opportunity for a vast pool of talent who have been sidelined because they @ @ @ @ @ interview or do n't get the role because they showed up with braces or a @ @ @ @ @ reach everyone , but I hope it 'll reach many more people whose talent has @ @ @ @

5.
"Honestly, I think (and hope) it's going to lower barriers to work for people with disabilities. Offices and buildings are supposed to be ADA compliant, but that's only a small part of it. Remote work holds promise and opportunity for a vast pool of talent who have been sidelined because they can't get to the interview or don't get the role because they showed up with braces or a wheelchair. It won't reach everyone, but I hope it'll reach many more people whose talent has been disregarded."


buzzfeed--2020-09-14--This Red-Food Visual Test Is Harder Than You Probably Think

The food in the box is an apple !

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buzzfeed--2020-09-15--People Are Low-Key Loving That Kamala Harris Has Worn Converse Sneakers For Much Of Her Campaign

This is minuscule in the grand scheme of things , but seeing @ KamalaHarris campaign in Converse makes me smile @ @ @ @ @ to wear pants on the Senate floor until 1993 .
We ’ re taught to @ @ @ @ @ wearing heels .
Now our VP candidate is rocking sneakers .
https : //t.co/2pCSVQ3ywm

This is minuscule in the grand scheme of things, but seeing @KamalaHarris campaign in Converse makes me smile. Women were not allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor until 1993. We’re taught to push through the pain of wearing heels. Now our VP candidate is rocking sneakers. https://t.co/2pCSVQ3ywm


buzzfeed--2020-09-14--Biden Called Trump "A Climate Arsonist" As The President Continued To Deny Climate Science

As the nation contends with wildfires that have killed at least 20 people and ravaged millions of acres of land , President Donald Trump and Joe Biden addressed the crisis on Monday in radically different terms : Biden emphasized the need for immediate action on climate change , and Trump continued to deny the legitimacy of climate science .
With 50 days to go until the election , the two candidates each molded core campaign messages around the wildfires .
Trump summoned government officials to thank him and display the powers of his office , while Biden asserted that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , under the pressure of a pandemic and worsening climate change .
“ It shouldn ’ t be so bad .
Millions of Americans live in the shadow of an orange sky and are left asking , ‘ Is doomsday here ?
’ I know this feeling of dread and anxiety extends beyond just the fires , ” Biden said in an address to reporters , going on to talk about recent hurricanes , flash floods , and rising temperatures over the past decade .
“ With every bout with nature ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on climate change , more Americans see and feel the devastation in big cities , small towns , on coastlines and farmlands , ” Biden said .
Biden , speaking outside the Delaware Museum of Natural History , had a clear message : Trump is `` a climate arsonist '' for not acting to curb greenhouse gas emissions , and these ongoing fires are the latest in a series of horrific natural disasters brought on by climate change in recent years .
In California , Trump took part in a roundtable with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during which he defensively told government and natural resource officials that he didn ’ t agree with climate science .
While wildfires have spread and created apocalyptic conditions for Americans on the West Coast , Trump has focused on forest management as their cause .
He has waved away concerns from climate scientists , government officials , and forest management officials about the impact of climate change on the number of large fires that have erupted in the states .
Trump ’ s view was on display during a roundtable in Sacramento on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials , during which Wade Crowfoot , the secretary of the California Natural Resource Agency , told the president that while they both agreed the state needed to work with the federal government on forest management , they couldn ’ t ignore climate change ’ s impact on forest fires .
“ We want to work with you to recognize the changing climate and what it means to our forest and actually work together with that science , ” Crowfoot told the president .
“ That science is going to be key because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our heads in the sand and think it ’ s all about vegetation management , we ’ re not going to succeed together at protecting Californians.
” “ It ’ ll start getting cooler , ” the president quipped back .
“ You just watch.
” “ I wish the science agreed with you , ” Crowfoot told the president .
Trump responded , `` I do n't think science knows . ''
Trump ’ s view on wildfires sidelining climate change has been consistent during his presidency .
In 2018 , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” for California ’ s massive wildfires other than “ poor ” forest management and threatened to block federal funding if they didn ’ t change their plans .
He repeated those threats again at an August campaign rally in Pennsylvania , telling the crowd that maybe “ we ’ re just going to have to make them pay for it because they don ’ t listen to us ” after saying he had told the state , “ You got ta clean your floors , you got ta clean your forest.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number one environmental president since Teddy Roosevelt ” in Florida last week , has maintained his climate change denial throughout his term , highlighted by his decision to pull the US out of the international Paris agreement , which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions .
Biden ’ s climate plan emphasizes a $ 2 trillion investment in renewable energy industries over the course of four years , with an ultimate goal of the US moving to emissions-free energy production by 2035 , and for 40 % of the clean energy infrastructure to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ committed to rejoining the Paris agreement .
Ahead of a visit to Kissimmee , Florida , on Tuesday , Biden referred twice to the devastation Hurricane Maria brought to Puerto Rico and the incompetent federal response .
“ The West is literally on fire , and he blames the people whose homes and communities are burning .
He says , ‘ You got ta clean your floors , you got ta clean your forests.
’ This is the same president who threw paper towels to the people of Puerto Rico instead of truly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden said .
The majority of Puerto Ricans who left the island after Hurricane Maria landed in Kissimmee and other parts of central Florida .
More than 3,000 people died as a result of the natural disaster and the lack of emergency response on local and federal levels in the weeks that followed .
Biden also linked climate change on Monday to a core part of Trump ’ s reelection message — the idea that white suburbs , whose votes he needs , are under threat , based on racist tropes about integration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` You know what is actually threatening our suburbs ?
Wildfires are burning the suburbs in the West .
Floods are wiping out suburban neighborhoods in the Midwest , '' Biden said .

As the nation contends with wildfires that have killed at least 20 people and ravaged millions of acres of land, President Donald Trump and Joe Biden addressed the crisis on Monday in radically different terms: Biden emphasized the need for immediate action on climate change, and Trump continued to deny the legitimacy of climate science.
With 50 days to go until the election, the two candidates each molded core campaign messages around the wildfires. Trump summoned government officials to thank him and display the powers of his office, while Biden asserted that he is the candidate who believes in science, under the pressure of a pandemic and worsening climate change.
“It shouldn’t be so bad. Millions of Americans live in the shadow of an orange sky and are left asking, ‘Is doomsday here?’ I know this feeling of dread and anxiety extends beyond just the fires,” Biden said in an address to reporters, going on to talk about recent hurricanes, flash floods, and rising temperatures over the past decade.
“With every bout with nature’s fury, caused by our own inaction on climate change, more Americans see and feel the devastation in big cities, small towns, on coastlines and farmlands,” Biden said.
Biden, speaking outside the Delaware Museum of Natural History, had a clear message: Trump is "a climate arsonist" for not acting to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and these ongoing fires are the latest in a series of horrific natural disasters brought on by climate change in recent years.
In California, Trump took part in a roundtable with the state's fire and emergency officials, during which he defensively told government and natural resource officials that he didn’t agree with climate science.


buzzfeed--2020-09-14--Bernie Sanders And Joe Biden: First Things First, Don’t Say They’re Friends

It bothers Jane Sanders when people say her husband is “ friends ” with Joe Biden .
To be clear , she said , he isn ’ t , they aren ’ t , etc .
Not even in the Washington sense of the word .
The characterization is one she regards as false and in need of correction , which she issued at multiple points in the course of a phone call last month from Burlington , Vermont , as one might clear up an incorrect name , date , or place : “ We don ’ t go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get dinner together .
We work together , all of us , whether it ’ s Jill and me , or Joe and Bernie .
It 's built on work — and there are differences.
” “ There are definitely differences !
” Jane said .
And yet , there it is again .
That word : friends , friends , friends .
Ever since the end of the campaign , she ’ s seen it crop up in the coverage .
“ People somehow keep on referring to ‘ Oh , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , sounding resigned to it now .
That fact that Bernie Sanders has both repeatedly and literally said the words “ Joe is a friend ” is , it seems , beside the point .
( Other public statements include “ Joe is my friend , ” “ Joe is a good friend , ” and “ I like Joe.
” ) The distinction made by Jane , his partner of nearly 40 years and his closest political adviser , has less to do with the nuances of male friendship — though @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ hanging out ” ( texting ? )
— or the generational warmth that bonds two 1940s-born men who served together in the Senate and share a certain respect and reverence for the institution .
The sensitivity lies somewhere beyond that , between Biden , Sanders , and a third party : the movement .
“ Everybody keeps on acting like , ‘ Well , Bernie pulled his punches because they 're friends , ’ ” Jane said .
“ He did n't pull his punches .
They fought on issues , you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a long race that drew a total of 27 candidates before narrowing to the two men , some Sanders campaign aides pleaded with their boss to go harder on Biden ’ s record .
To their eyes , it was exactly the kind of incremental , “ same old , same old status quo ” politics they viewed as wrong on the issues ( Iraq , trade , health care ) and unexciting in a general election against Donald Trump .
At turns , Sanders challenged Biden , then pulled back — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He did like Joe .
And he said so publicly .
Privately , he was willing to admit the obvious , which was that he liked Joe a lot better than the last Democrat who beat him , a fact that still enrages parts of the Hillary Clinton community .
This time , when the primary ended in early April , the two candidates set up six task forces , each one jointly staffed by Sanders and Biden ’ s people , to come up with policy recommendations .
Over the summer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ via phone .
Their wives , Jane and Jill , exchanged texts .
The Sanders family , who spent their quarantine at home in Burlington , has a certain faith in Biden — one they never felt with Clinton — that he is not only willing to listen to the left , but “ has recognized , ” Jane said , “ that the world has changed a bit.
” The future of Sanders ’ s movement — the rage against the establishment , the “ political revolution ” and his role in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Time of Biden .
For more than five years , a big share of the progressive movement has been tied to the personal identity and political future of a candidate who has now run his last national campaign .
At 79 , Sanders has said he won ’ t run for president again .
His movement shaped a new generation of young progressives , but has no clear successor .
His ideas have become “ mainstream , ” as he often notes , but can claim only a mixed record when it comes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential race , the movement lost .
Early on in the primary , Sanders watched other Democratic candidates back away , one by one , from his signature healthcare plan , Medicare for All , which they ’ d jumped to cosponsor just two years earlier .
When it became a two-man race , a choice between his politics and Biden ’ s , he found himself losing , badly .
And months later , when it came time to pick a vice presidential nominee , Biden passed over an opportunity to appeal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ instead .
After she held her first event as his running mate , delivering a speech from A.I .
du Pont High School in Wilmington , a reporter shouted across the room : “ Sen .
Harris , do you support Medicare for All ?
” If the question answered itself , it didn ’ t seem to matter .
Harris ignored it .
At the same time , Sanders kept an active but quiet presence at home in Burlington , watching with increasing alarm as Trump mishandled the coronavirus crisis , teargassed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent federal agents to American cities .
The prospect of Trump 's reelection became something more personal for Sanders , stirring up thoughts of his own painful family history , according to three people familiar with his thinking .
Growing up with relatives who died in Nazi-occupied Poland , one of those people said , Sanders developed an “ acute awareness of how people can get sucked into authoritarianism once the guardrails of democracy come down.
” As a child , he cried when he looked at photos in books about the destruction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ that weighs heavily , ” Jane said .
So four months after the end of his presidential campaign , when he returned to the national stage to speak at the Democratic National Convention , Sanders did not say much about the question of his legacy , or the future of his movement , or the way forward for progressives .
He spent weeks on the speech — interrogating each sentence , stripping down each point , people close to him said — until the draft fit with mercenary spareness in his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minutes and 29 seconds , delivered from the back corner of a restaurant in Burlington called Hen of the Wood .
When someone off-camera signaled to him in the silence — “ Go , ” a woman said — Sanders used his time to make an appeal for Biden ’ s agenda , separate from his own .
“ Let me offer you just a few examples of how Joe will move us forward , ” he told supporters .
The progressive cause was still growing , he said , but this was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a fight “ for democracy and decency , ” he said — a “ movement like never before.
” If there has been a discussion on the left about whether this election was a time to be tough on Biden , or to put aside that debate and focus on defeating Trump , Sanders seemed to land on the latter .
His outlook on the race — his polar views of Biden and Trump — has effectively put the `` political revolution '' on hold until Nov. 3 , 2020 .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Sanders privately expressed concerns about Biden ’ s messaging , with top aide Faiz Shakir telling the newspaper that they have “ urged ” the campaign to focus more on pocketbook issues , the former candidate didn ’ t deny the substance of the claims .
But he still made a point of pushing back on the reports of dissent .
“ No , ” Sanders told MSNBC on Sunday .
“ Of course they ’ re not true.
” In one interview after the next , Sanders has said the fight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ends .
“ The day after Biden is elected , we ’ re gon na have a serious debate about the future of this country , ” he ’ s said .
“ We will fight about our ideas — we ’ ll fight about healthcare and education and climate change — after Biden is elected , ” he ’ s said .
Biden , he ’ s said , has the potential to be “ the most progressive president ” since Franklin D. Roosevelt .
For some of his supporters , this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the time Sanders made his pitch for Biden ’ s agenda at the convention last month — including , to the dismay of some , his more modest “ public option ” healthcare plan — about 850 of his own delegates , the supporters representing his campaign at the convention , had already pledged to vote against the Democratic platform .
The official if largely symbolic document , outlining the party ’ s stance on policy every four years , did not endorse Medicare for All .
Some of the most prominent voices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including his campaign ’ s national co-chairs , former Ohio state senator Nina Turner and Rep. Ro Khanna , and Rep. Rashida Tlaib , one of four progressive women of color in Congress who make up “ the Squad.
” “ It was a little disappointing but unsurprising , ” said Winnie Wong , a veteran of progressive politics who served as a senior adviser on Sanders ’ 2020 campaign .
“ There was no way he would go live and make mention of the fact that nearly his entire delegation is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Looking ahead to a potential Biden administration , the question of what Sanders might offer , and what his supporters might want or expect , no longer seems clear-cut .
“ Joe Biden won ’ t be the next FDR unless there are people like Bernie Sanders and other progressive leaders in Congress waking up every single day knowing that their job is not to be friends with Joe Biden , ” said David Sirota , one of the campaign officials who pushed Sanders to step up his attacks on Biden during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to push Joe Biden whether he likes it or not .
“ It can ’ t be both .
You have to choose.
” The former vice president , now 50 days out from the election , has described his relationship with Sanders as a mutual , good-faith partnership : Biden was never going to be for Medicare for All — “ I had to be sure that Bernie was serious , ” he told the New Yorker , “ [ that he ] wasn ’ t going to make this an ideological @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ways to “ move further ” on the margins .
Younger generations , he told the magazine , faced new problems .
So they agreed on proposals to lower the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60 and make public college free for families earning less than $ 125,000 .
One campaign aide recalled watching the two men cross paths at a forum in 2019 : Biden was in a hallway backstage , off to the side , talking with a small group .
Sanders said hello and continued down the hall .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ made a comment about Bernie being a good guy .
When someone in the group countered with a sarcastic remark , Biden quickly cut him off , defending Sanders as a person he ’ d known for years .
“ He didn ’ t have to say anything , ” said the person who witnessed the interaction .
At the end of the primary in 2016 , Clinton ’ s team also sat down with Sanders and his staff — mostly to hammer out changes to the Democratic platform — “ but we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with her that we do with Biden , ” Jane said of the difference .
“ There ’ s a mutual respect .
There ’ s a trust and a collegiality.
” There is also none of the bitterness or hurt feelings .
At the last Democratic convention , held over four 100-degree days in Philadelphia ’ s Wells Fargo Center , Sanders offered his endorsement from the stage in a half-hour speech , the first eight minutes of which he spent quieting his supporters He threw his full support behind Clinton , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his movement , outlining the changes to the 2016 platform , like battle spoils to the crowd .
WikiLeaks had just published 20,000 hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee , some of which showed that party officials serving as neutral arbiters of the primary process had in fact unfairly favored Clinton , and the chaos seemed to validate and crystalize the emotional make-up of Sanders ’ s movement : the anger at the establishment ; the distrust of the political process ; the constant state of hyper-vigilance , always bracing for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defiance , one always tingeing the other , until they almost sound the same .
“ I feel better about this election than I do about 2016 , ” Jane said when asked about the difference between this year ’ s convention and the one four years ago .
“ It 's not personal .
It 's not like we're… ” She stopped , nearly broaching that word again .
“ It 's a different ...
I do n't want to revisit 2016.
” “ I just remember that feeling in that convention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ What the hell are we doing ?
” Afterward , Sanders traveled the country for Clinton , holding 39 rallies in 13 states on behalf of her campaign .
But the end of that race had been a fight — a time to make demands , eke out concessions , and push his agenda on the party .
This election has been something different .
The convention four years later , an almost entirely digital event , was a more quiet affair , with scarce reference to Sanders or his movement beyond @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the policy task forces , the fight was relegated to a virtual meeting of the rules committee .
Sanders appointees , in an episode first reported by Politico , briefly erupted over a motion to “ table ” — or , in this case , get rid of — a measure that would have limited the influence of corporate money in the party .
“ Table till when ?
Table till when ?
” one shouted , according to an account of the meeting from three participants .
In a separate “ breakout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in which members could listen in on the main proceedings , more Bernie people started yelling .
Then the Biden people were yelling too — they couldn ’ t hear what was happening .
And then soon , everyone was yelling .
Expletives could be heard through the noise .
In the main room , the meeting continued without interruption .
No one could hear them .
“ Let ’ s hold up signs , ” a Bernie appointee suggested at one point .
They were on mute .
Bernie Sanders has already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He won ’ t have another national campaign , with the big staff and the plane .
There won ’ t be another Washington headquarters , or a team waiting for him in every state .
His rallies , when they return , won ’ t feel the same .
He is no longer a person who might , one day , be president ; that special sheen , the thing that obsesses political journalists and supplies constant airtime , has already faded .
Sanders , a man who fields personal questions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ glancingly addressed the topic of his future and the way he now sees his “ role.
” Efforts to ascribe meaning and clarity to the moment can seem vague and contradictory : Over the last month , he has been described all at once as cementing his legacy , “ passing the baton , ” celebrating victory , saying goodbye , entering retirement , forging ahead .
“ I hate all these stories , ” said Jeff Weaver , Sanders ’ 2016 campaign manager and longest-serving strategist , ticking off mock headlines .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are you talking about ?
‘ Where ’ s Bernie gone ?
’ ?
He hasn ’ t gone anywhere !
” If the idea of Sanders riding off into the sunset seems ridiculous , then so is the suggestion that nothing really changed when he ended his 2020 campaign .
For the staff who worked for him , the final stage of the race rolled in like a weird , bewildering haze .
The same day he lost in Michigan , the primary he needed most to keep his campaign alive , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , fly home to Vermont , and indefinitely cancel events due to COVID-19 .
Aides had to cope with the loss in quarantine , isolated alone .
There were marathon Zoom calls at first .
One group of staffers decided to just stay in Vermont , rent a farm , and live cooperatively .
A small group of senior aides are still helping Sanders , but most of the team has processed the end from afar .
Hours before Sanders gave his speech last month , former staffers shared an image from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Out in the crowd , an early supporter could be seen hoisting a sign , spray-painted with the words “ STILL HERE.
” Sanders has split his time this summer between Vermont and Capitol Hill .
Last week , he turned 79 .
Most years , Sanders celebrates his birthday with an annual “ Sunset Cruise ” aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen , a three-deck ship off the waterfront in Burlington , with live music from his favorite Vermont band , Mango Jam , a six-piece dance band that plays Zydeco @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there was no Sunset Cruise .
In an email , Mango Jam member Mimi Ryan ( alto sax , vocals ) cited COVID-19 restrictions and the upcoming election as the likely reason .
“ Bernie keeps pretty busy , as we all know , ” Ryan said .
“ Maybe 2021.
” The Sanders family is , in fact , still very much in campaign mode .
During the recent phone call with Jane , questions about life since the end of the race yielded less in the way of emotional insight than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ communicate effectively ” during a pandemic .
What sounds at first like a perfectly normal lament about life in quarantine — “ it ’ s still strange not to be out among people , ” she started to say — turns out to be a reference in the most literal sense to “ being among people.
” As in , voters .
As in , “ How do you campaign during this pandemic ?
” she said , finishing her thought .
“ But also , how do you bring people together @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ our rallies ” and the “ exhilarating ” feeling of thousands of people joining together in a show of force for progressive ideas ( and , presumably , for Biden ) .
The couple has turned half their house into a studio , Jane said .
“ We 're on the phone constantly .
On conference calls , talking to various people , doing livestreams or Zoom calls .
And , you know , writing.
” Most days , Sanders sends his staff text for as many as four or five Facebook @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ Bernie Sanders ” account , according to an aide .
He has held eight virtual town halls in states like Michigan and Colorado over the last month , events where he appears from Vermont , hunched before a virtually rendered woodland backdrop , talking about the threat posed by Trump .
“ Bernie is not our president , but he ’ s not going away .
He ’ s not , ” his wife said .
“ He will still be a very significant leader and a representative of the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the progressives .
He is basically here for the movement .
He wants to make sure that people understand that the progress we ’ ve made — it can ’ t be stopped or disrespected.
” On this question , Bernie and Jane Sanders seem reassured , even if some of their supporters aren ’ t , that Biden will move toward their agenda , not away from it , if he wins this fall .
“ And yes , ” Jane said , “ we do n't get everything all at @ @ @

It bothers Jane Sanders when people say her husband is “friends” with Joe Biden. To be clear, she said, he isn’t, they aren’t, etc. Not even in the Washington sense of the word. The characterization is one she regards as false and in need of correction, which she issued at multiple points in the course of a phone call last month from Burlington, Vermont, as one might clear up an incorrect name, date, or place: “We don’t go out together. We don’t get dinner together. We work together, all of us, whether it’s Jill and me, or Joe and Bernie. It's built on work — and there are differences.”
“There are definitely differences!” Jane said.
And yet, there it is again. That word: friends, friends, friends. Ever since the end of the campaign, she’s seen it crop up in the coverage. “People somehow keep on referring to ‘Oh, we’re friends,’” she said, sounding resigned to it now.
That fact that Bernie Sanders has both repeatedly and literally said the words “Joe is a friend” is, it seems, beside the point. (Other public statements include “Joe is my friend,” “Joe is a good friend,” and “I like Joe.”) The distinction made by Jane, his partner of nearly 40 years and his closest political adviser, has less to do with the nuances of male friendship — though imagine for a moment Joe and Bernie “hanging out” (texting?) — or the generational warmth that bonds two 1940s-born men who served together in the Senate and share a certain respect and reverence for the institution.
The sensitivity lies somewhere beyond that, between Biden, Sanders, and a third party: the movement.
“Everybody keeps on acting like, ‘Well, Bernie pulled his punches because they're friends,’” Jane said. “He didn't pull his punches. They fought on issues, you know?”
During the Democratic primary, a long race that drew a total of 27 candidates before narrowing to the two men, some Sanders campaign aides pleaded with their boss to go harder on Biden’s record. To their eyes, it was exactly the kind of incremental, “same old, same old status quo” politics they viewed as wrong on the issues (Iraq, trade, health care) and unexciting in a general election against Donald Trump. At turns, Sanders challenged Biden, then pulled back — only ever willing to go so far. He did like Joe. And he said so publicly. Privately, he was willing to admit the obvious, which was that he liked Joe a lot better than the last Democrat who beat him, a fact that still enrages parts of the Hillary Clinton community. This time, when the primary ended in early April, the two candidates set up six task forces, each one jointly staffed by Sanders and Biden’s people, to come up with policy recommendations. Over the summer, the two candidates stayed in touch via phone. Their wives, Jane and Jill, exchanged texts. The Sanders family, who spent their quarantine at home in Burlington, has a certain faith in Biden — one they never felt with Clinton — that he is not only willing to listen to the left, but “has recognized,” Jane said, “that the world has changed a bit.”
The future of Sanders’s movement — the rage against the establishment, the “political revolution” and his role in it — seems suddenly transformed in the Time of Biden.
For more than five years, a big share of the progressive movement has been tied to the personal identity and political future of a candidate who has now run his last national campaign. At 79, Sanders has said he won’t run for president again. His movement shaped a new generation of young progressives, but has no clear successor. His ideas have become “mainstream,” as he often notes, but can claim only a mixed record when it comes to winning elections. In the 2020 presidential race, the movement lost. Early on in the primary, Sanders watched other Democratic candidates back away, one by one, from his signature healthcare plan, Medicare for All, which they’d jumped to cosponsor just two years earlier. When it became a two-man race, a choice between his politics and Biden’s, he found himself losing, badly. And months later, when it came time to pick a vice presidential nominee, Biden passed over an opportunity to appeal to the left, selecting Kamala Harris instead. After she held her first event as his running mate, delivering a speech from A.I. du Pont High School in Wilmington, a reporter shouted across the room: “Sen. Harris, do you support Medicare for All?” If the question answered itself, it didn’t seem to matter. Harris ignored it.
At the same time, Sanders kept an active but quiet presence at home in Burlington, watching with increasing alarm as Trump mishandled the coronavirus crisis, teargassed demonstrators outside the White House, and sent federal agents to American cities. The prospect of Trump's reelection became something more personal for Sanders, stirring up thoughts of his own painful family history, according to three people familiar with his thinking. Growing up with relatives who died in Nazi-occupied Poland, one of those people said, Sanders developed an “acute awareness of how people can get sucked into authoritarianism once the guardrails of democracy come down.” As a child, he cried when he looked at photos in books about the destruction of the Jews. As a politician, “that weighs heavily,” Jane said.
So four months after the end of his presidential campaign, when he returned to the national stage to speak at the Democratic National Convention, Sanders did not say much about the question of his legacy, or the future of his movement, or the way forward for progressives. He spent weeks on the speech — interrogating each sentence, stripping down each point, people close to him said — until the draft fit with mercenary spareness in his allotted time: 1,101 words in 8 minutes and 29 seconds, delivered from the back corner of a restaurant in Burlington called Hen of the Wood. When someone off-camera signaled to him in the silence — “Go,” a woman said — Sanders used his time to make an appeal for Biden’s agenda, separate from his own. “Let me offer you just a few examples of how Joe will move us forward,” he told supporters. The progressive cause was still growing, he said, but this was an “unprecedented moment” that called for a fight “for democracy and decency,” he said — a “movement like never before.”
If there has been a discussion on the left about whether this election was a time to be tough on Biden, or to put aside that debate and focus on defeating Trump, Sanders seemed to land on the latter. His outlook on the race — his polar views of Biden and Trump — has effectively put the "political revolution" on hold until Nov. 3, 2020.
This weekend, when the Washington Post reported that Sanders privately expressed concerns about Biden’s messaging, with top aide Faiz Shakir telling the newspaper that they have “urged” the campaign to focus more on pocketbook issues, the former candidate didn’t deny the substance of the claims. But he still made a point of pushing back on the reports of dissent.
“No,” Sanders told MSNBC on Sunday. “Of course they’re not true.”


buzzfeed--2020-09-14--“I Have Blood On My Hands”: A Whistleblower Says Facebook Ignored Global Political Manipulation

A 6,600-word internal memo from a fired Facebook data scientist details how the social network knew about specific examples of global political manipulation — and failed to act .
Facebook ignored or was slow to act on evidence that fake accounts on its platform have been undermining elections and political affairs around the world , according to an explosive memo sent by a recently fired Facebook employee and obtained by BuzzFeed News .
The 6,600-word memo , written by former Facebook data scientist Sophie Zhang , is filled with concrete examples of heads of government and political parties in Azerbaijan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ themselves to sway public opinion .
In countries including India , Ukraine , Spain , Brazil , Bolivia , and Ecuador , she found evidence of coordinated campaigns of varying sizes to boost or hinder political candidates or outcomes , though she did not always conclude who was behind them .
“ In the three years I ’ ve spent at Facebook , I ’ ve found multiple blatant attempts by foreign national governments to abuse our platform on vast scales to mislead their own citizenry , and caused international news on multiple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declined to talk to BuzzFeed News .
Her LinkedIn profile said she “ worked as the data scientist for the Facebook Site Integrity fake engagement team ” and dealt with “ bots influencing elections and the like.
” “ I have personally made decisions that affected national presidents without oversight , and taken action to enforce against so many prominent politicians globally that I ’ ve lost count , ” she wrote .
The memo is a damning account of Facebook ’ s failures .
It ’ s the story of Facebook abdicating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that could affect the political fate of nations outside the United States or Western Europe .
It 's also the story of a junior employee wielding extraordinary moderation powers that affected millions of people without any real institutional support , and the personal torment that followed .
“ I know that I have blood on my hands by now , ” Zhang wrote .
These are some of the biggest revelations in Zhang ’ s memo : • It took Facebook ’ s leaders nine months to act on a coordinated campaign “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boost President Juan Orlando Hernandez of Honduras on a massive scale to mislead the Honduran people.
” Two weeks after Facebook took action against the perpetrators in July , they returned , leading to a game of “ whack-a-mole ” between Zhang and the operatives behind the fake accounts , which are still active .
• In Azerbaijan , Zhang discovered the ruling political party “ utilized thousands of inauthentic assets ... to harass the opposition en masse.
” Facebook began looking into the issue a year after Zhang reported it .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her colleagues removed “ 10.5 million fake reactions and fans from high-profile politicians in Brazil and the US in the 2018 elections.
” • In February 2019 , a NATO researcher informed Facebook that `` he ’ d obtained Russian inauthentic activity on a high-profile U.S. political figure that we didn ’ t catch . ''
Zhang removed the activity , “ dousing the immediate fire , ” she wrote .
• In Ukraine , Zhang “ found inauthentic scripted activity ” supporting both former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko , a pro–European Union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well as Volodymyr Groysman , a former prime minister and ally of former president Petro Poroshenko .
“ Volodymyr Zelensky and his faction was the only major group not affected , ” Zhang said of the current Ukrainian prime minister .
• Zhang discovered inauthentic activity — a Facebook term for engagement from bot accounts and coordinated manual accounts— in Bolivia and Ecuador but chose “ not to prioritize it , ” due to her workload .
The amount of power she had as a mid-level employee to make decisions about a country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on her health .
• After becoming aware of coordinated manipulation on the Spanish Health Ministry ’ s Facebook page during the COVID-19 pandemic , Zhang helped find and remove 672,000 fake accounts “ acting on similar targets globally ” including in the US .
• In India , she worked to remove “ a politically-sophisticated network of more than a thousand actors working to influence '' the local elections taking place in Delhi in February .
Facebook never publicly disclosed this network or that it had taken it down .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with leading experts , to stop bad actors from abusing our systems , resulting in the removal of more than 100 networks for coordinated inauthentic behavior , '' Facebook spokesperson Liz Bourgeois said in a statement .
`` It ’ s highly involved work that these teams do as their full-time remit .
Working against coordinated inauthentic behavior is our priority , but we ’ re also addressing the problems of spam and fake engagement .
We investigate each issue carefully , including those that Ms. Zhang raises , before we take action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a company . ''
BuzzFeed News is not publishing Zhang ’ s full memo because it contains personal information .
This story includes full excerpts when possible to provide appropriate context .
In her post , Zhang said she did not want it to go public for fear of disrupting Facebook ’ s efforts to prevent problems around the upcoming 2020 US presidential election , and due to concerns about her own safety .
BuzzFeed News is publishing parts of her memo that are clearly in the public interest .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an impossible spot – caught between my loyalties to the company and my loyalties to the world as a whole , ” she said .
“ The last thing I want to do is distract from our efforts for the upcoming U.S. elections , yet I know this post will likely do so internally.
” Zhang said she turned down a $ 64,000 severance package from the company to avoid signing a nondisparagement agreement .
Doing so allowed her to speak out internally , and she used that freedom to reckon with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speech .
“ There was so much violating behavior worldwide that it was left to my personal assessment of which cases to further investigate , to file tasks , and escalate for prioritization afterwards , ” she wrote .
That power contrasted with what she said seemed to be a lack of desire from senior leadership to protect democratic processes in smaller countries .
Facebook , Zhang said , prioritized regions including the US and Western Europe , and often only acted when she repeatedly pressed the issue publicly in comments on Workplace @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employee-only message board .
“ With no oversight whatsoever , I was left in a situation where I was trusted with immense influence in my spare time , ” she wrote .
“ A manager on Strategic Response mused to myself that most of the world outside the West was effectively the Wild West with myself as the part-time dictator – he meant the statement as a compliment , but it illustrated the immense pressures upon me.
” A former Facebook engineer who knew her told BuzzFeed News that Zhang was skilled at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ She 's the only person in this entire field at Facebook that I ever trusted to be earnest about this work , '' said the engineer , who had seen a copy of Zhang ’ s post and asked not to be named because they no longer work at the company .
“ A lot of what I learned from that post was shocking even to me as someone who 's often been disappointed at how the company treats its best people , '' they said .
Zhang ’ s memo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heavy stakes left her unable to sleep .
She often felt responsible when civil unrest took hold in places she didn ’ t prioritize for investigation and action .
“ I have made countless decisions in this vein – from Iraq to Indonesia , from Italy to El Salvador , ” she wrote .
“ Individually , the impact was likely small in each case , but the world is a vast place.
” Still , she did not believe that the failures she observed during her two and a half years at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intent by Facebook ’ s employees or leadership .
It was a lack of resources , Zhang wrote , and the company ’ s tendency to focus on global activity that posed public relations risks , as opposed to electoral or civic harm .
“ Facebook projects an image of strength and competence to the outside world that can lend itself to such theories , but the reality is that many of our actions are slapdash and haphazard accidents , ” she wrote .
Zhang wrote that she was just six months into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behavior — Facebook ’ s internal term for the use of multiple fake accounts to boost engagement or spread content — benefiting Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández .
The connection to the Honduran leader was made , Zhang said , because an administrator for the president ’ s Facebook page had been “ happily running hundreds of these fake assets without any obfuscation whatsoever in a show of extreme chutzpah.
” The data scientist said she reported the operation , which involved thousands of fake accounts , to Facebook ’ s threat intelligence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which took months to act .
“ Local policy teams confirmed that President JOH ’ s marketing team had openly admitted to organizing the activity on his behalf , ” she wrote .
“ Yet despite the blatantly violating nature of this activity , it took me almost a year to take down his operation.
” That takedown was announced by Facebook in July 2019 , but proved futile .
Soon , the operation was soon back up and running , a fact Facebook has never disclosed .
“ They had returned within @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back in a similar volume of users , ” Zhang wrote , adding that she did a final sweep for the fake accounts on her last day at Facebook .
“ A year after our takedown , the activity is still live and well.
” In Azerbaijan , she found a large network of inauthentic accounts used to attack opponents of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and his ruling New Azerbaijan Party , which uses the acronym YAP .
Facebook still has not disclosed the influence campaign , according to Zhang .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of those of Russia ’ s Internet Research Agency , a private troll farm that tried to influence the 2016 US elections , because it involved “ dedicated employees who worked 9-6 Monday-Friday work weeks to create millions of comments ” targeting members of the opposition and media reports seen as negative to Aliyev .
“ Multiple official accounts for district-level divisions of the ruling YAP political party directly controlled numerous of these fake assets without any obfuscation whatsoever in another display of arrogance , ” she wrote .
“ Perhaps they thought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we simply didn ’ t care enough to stop them.
” Katy Pearce , an associate professor at the University of Washington who studies social media and communication technology in Azerbaijan , told BuzzFeed News that fake Facebook accounts have been used to undermine the opposition and independent media in the country for years .
“ One of the big tools of authoritarian regimes is to humiliate the opposition in the mind of the public so that they 're not viewed as a credible or legitimate alternative , ” she told BuzzFeed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effect .
Why would I post something if I know that I 'm going to deal with thousands or hundreds of these comments , that I 'm going to be targeted ?
” Peace said Zhang ’ s comment in the memo that Facebook “ didn ’ t care enough to stop ” the fake accounts and trolling aligns with her experience .
“ They have bigger fish to fry , ” she said .
A person who managed social media accounts for news organizations in Azerbaijan told BuzzFeed News that their pages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We used to delete and ban them because we didn ’ t want people who came to our page to be discouraged and not react or comment , ” said the person , who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak for their employer .
“ But since [ the trolls ] are employees , it ’ s easy for them to open new accounts.
” They said Facebook has at times made things worse by removing the accounts or pages of human rights activists and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We tried to tell Facebook that this is a real person who does important work , ” but it took weeks for the page to be restored .
Zhang wrote that a Facebook investigation into fake accounts and trolling in Azerbaijan is now underway , more than a year after she first reported the issue .
On the day of her departure , she called it her “ greatest unfinished business ” to stop the fake behavior in the country .
“ Many others would think nothing of myself devoting this attention to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to see myself fighting for these small countries , ” she wrote .
“ To put it simply , my methodologies were systematic globally , and I fought for Honduras and Azerbaijan because that was where I saw the most ongoing harm.
” “ I have blood on my hands ” In other examples , Zhang revealed new information about a large-scale fake account network used to amplify and manipulate information about COVID-19 , as well as a political influence operation that used fake accounts to influence 2018 elections in the US and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not previously disclosed by Facebook , suggesting the company ’ s regular takedown announcements remain selective and incomplete .
Zhang said Facebook removed 672,000 “ low-quality fake accounts ” after press reports in April that some of the accounts had been engaging with COVID-19 content on the Spanish Health Ministry ’ s page .
She said accounts in that network also engaged with content on US pages .
Facebook did not disclose how many accounts it removed , or that those accounts engaged with content in other countries , including the US .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ scale of inauthentic activity during the 2018 midterm elections in the US , and from Brazilian politicians that same year .
“ We ended up removing 10.5 million fake reactions and fans from high-profile politicians in Brazil and the U.S. in the 2018 elections – major politicians of all persuasions in Brazil , and a number of lower-level politicians in the United States , ” she wrote .
A September 2018 briefing about Facebook ’ s election work in the US and Brazil disclosed that it had acted against a network in Brazil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ division and share disinformation , ” as well as a set of groups , pages , and accounts that were “ falsely amplifying engagement for financial gain.
” It did not fully mention Zhang 's findings .
The scale of this activity — 672,000 fake accounts in one network , 10.5 million fake engagement and fans in others — indicates active fake accounts are a global problem , and are used to manipulate elections and public debate around the world .
As one of the few people looking for and identifying fake accounts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” regions , Zhang struggled with the power she had been handed .
“ We focus upon harm and priority regions like the United States and Western Europe , ” Zhang wrote , adding that “ it became impossible to read the news and monitor world events without feeling the weight of my own responsibility.
” In Bolivia , Zhang said she found “ inauthentic activity supporting the opposition presidential candidate in 2019 ” and chose not to prioritize it .
Months later , Bolivian politics fell into turmoil , leading to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mass protests leading to dozens of deaths.
” The same happened in Ecuador , according to Zhang , who “ found inauthentic activity supporting the ruling government… and made the decision not to prioritize it.
” The former Facebook employee then wondered how her decision led to downstream effects on how Ecuador ’ s government handled the COVID-19 pandemic — which has devastated the country — and if that would have been different if she 'd acted .
“ I have made countless decisions in this vein – from Iraq to Indonesia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the impact was likely small in each case , but the world is a vast place .
Although I made the best decision I could based on the knowledge available at the time , ultimately I was the one who made the decision not to push more or prioritize further in each case , and I know that I have blood on my hands by now.
” Zhang also uncovered issues in India , Facebook ’ s largest market , in the lead up to the local Delhi elections in February 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take down a politically-sophisticated network of more than a thousand actors working to influence the election , ” she wrote .
Last month , Facebook ’ s Indian operation came under scrutiny after reports in the Wall Street Journal revealed a top policy executive in the country had stopped local staffers from applying the company ’ s hate speech policies to ruling party politicians who posted anti-Muslim hate speech .
In her “ spare time ” in 2019 , Zhang took on tasks usually reserved for product managers and investigators , searching out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Indonesia , the Philippines , Australia , the United Kingdom , Taiwan , “ and many many more.
” Zhang said she found and took down “ inauthentic scripted activity ” in Ukraine that supported Yulia Tymoshenko , a complicated political figure who has been involved in controversial gas deals with Russia but taken a more pro-Western tack in her later career , as well as for former prime minister Volodymyr Groysman , an ally of former president Petro Poroshenko .
“ Volodymyr Zelensky and his faction was the only major group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In another part of her memo , Zhang said she wanted to push back on the idea that Facebook was run by malicious people hoping to achieve a particular outcome .
That was not the case , she wrote , attributing actions to “ slapdash and haphazard accidents.
” “ Last year when we blocked users from naming the Ukraine whistleblower , we forgot to cover hashtags until I stepped in , ” she wrote .
But she also remarked on Facebook ’ s habit of prioritizing public relations over real-world problems .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ within the civic integrity space that Facebook ’ s short-term decisions are largely motivated by PR and the potential for negative attention , ” she wrote , noting that she was told directly at a 2020 summit that anything published in the New York Times or Washington Post would obtain elevated priority .
“ It ’ s why I ’ ve seen priorities of escalations shoot up when others start threatening to go to the press , and why I was informed by a leader in my organization that my civic work was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the problems were meaningful they would have attracted attention , became a press fire , and convinced the company to devote more attention to the space.
” Zhang mentioned one example in February 2019 , when a NATO strategic communications researcher reached out to Facebook , alerting the company that he 'd `` obtained '' Russian inauthentic activity “ on a high-profile U.S. political figure that we didn ’ t catch.
” That researcher said they were planning on briefing Congress the next day .
“ I quickly investigated the case , determined @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the activity , dousing the immediate fire , ” Zhang wrote .
“ Perhaps motivated by the experience , the same researcher tried the same experiment within a month or two , waiting half a year afterwards before sending the report to the press and finally causing the PR fire.
” Beyond specific examples from around the world , Zhang provided insight into the inner workings at Facebook .
She criticized her team ’ s focus on issues related to “ 99 % of activity that ’ s essentially spam.
” “ Overall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and most of Facebook – was on large-scale problems , an approach which fixated us on spam , ” she said .
“ The civic aspect was discounted because of its small volume , its disproportionate impact ignored.
” Zhang outlined the political processes within Facebook itself .
She said the best way for her to gain attention for her work was not to go through the proper reporting channels , but to post about the issues on Facebook ’ s internal employee message board to build pressure .
“ In the office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t respected unless I acted like an arrogant asshole , ” Zhang said .
When she asked the company to do more in terms of finding and stopping malicious activity related to elections and political activity , she said she was told that “ human resources are limited.
” And when she was ordered to stop focusing on civic work , “ I was told that Facebook would no longer have further need for my services if I refused.
” Zhang was fired this month and posted her memo on her last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on through the election as an unpaid volunteer .
In her goodbye , she encouraged her colleagues to remain at Facebook and to fix the company from within .
“ But you don ’ t – and shouldn ’ t – need to do it alone , ” she wrote .
“ Find others who share your convictions and values to work on it together .
Facebook is too big of a project for any one person to fix.
” ●

“Multiple official accounts for district-level divisions of the ruling YAP political party directly controlled numerous of these fake assets without any obfuscation whatsoever in another display of arrogance,” she wrote. “Perhaps they thought they were clever; the truth was, we simply didn’t care enough to stop them.”
Katy Pearce, an associate professor at the University of Washington who studies social media and communication technology in Azerbaijan, told BuzzFeed News that fake Facebook accounts have been used to undermine the opposition and independent media in the country for years.
“One of the big tools of authoritarian regimes is to humiliate the opposition in the mind of the public so that they're not viewed as a credible or legitimate alternative,” she told BuzzFeed News. “There's a chilling effect. Why would I post something if I know that I'm going to deal with thousands or hundreds of these comments, that I'm going to be targeted?”
Pearce said Zhang’s comment in the memo that Facebook “didn’t care enough to stop” the fake accounts and trolling aligns with her experience. “They have bigger fish to fry,” she said.
A person who managed social media accounts for news organizations in Azerbaijan told BuzzFeed News that their pages were inundated with inauthentic Facebook comments.
“We used to delete and ban them because we didn’t want people who came to our page to be discouraged and not react or comment,” said the person, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak for their employer. “But since [the trolls] are employees, it’s easy for them to open new accounts.”
They said Facebook has at times made things worse by removing the accounts or pages of human rights activists and other people after trolls report them. “We tried to tell Facebook that this is a real person who does important work,” but it took weeks for the page to be restored.
Zhang wrote that a Facebook investigation into fake accounts and trolling in Azerbaijan is now underway, more than a year after she first reported the issue. On the day of her departure, she called it her “greatest unfinished business” to stop the fake behavior in the country.
“Many others would think nothing of myself devoting this attention to the United States, but are shocked to see myself fighting for these small countries,” she wrote. “To put it simply, my methodologies were systematic globally, and I fought for Honduras and Azerbaijan because that was where I saw the most ongoing harm.”
“I have blood on my hands”
In other examples, Zhang revealed new information about a large-scale fake account network used to amplify and manipulate information about COVID-19, as well as a political influence operation that used fake accounts to influence 2018 elections in the US and Brazil. Some of these details were not previously disclosed by Facebook, suggesting the company’s regular takedown announcements remain selective and incomplete.
Zhang said Facebook removed 672,000 “low-quality fake accounts” after press reports in April that some of the accounts had been engaging with COVID-19 content on the Spanish Health Ministry’s page. She said accounts in that network also engaged with content on US pages. Facebook did not disclose how many accounts it removed, or that those accounts engaged with content in other countries, including the US.
Zhang also shared new details about the scale of inauthentic activity during the 2018 midterm elections in the US, and from Brazilian politicians that same year. “We ended up removing 10.5 million fake reactions and fans from high-profile politicians in Brazil and the U.S. in the 2018 elections – major politicians of all persuasions in Brazil, and a number of lower-level politicians in the United States,” she wrote.
A September 2018 briefing about Facebook’s election work in the US and Brazil disclosed that it had acted against a network in Brazil that used “fake accounts to sow division and share disinformation,” as well as a set of groups, pages, and accounts that were “falsely amplifying engagement for financial gain.” It did not fully mention Zhang's findings.
The scale of this activity — 672,000 fake accounts in one network, 10.5 million fake engagement and fans in others — indicates active fake accounts are a global problem, and are used to manipulate elections and public debate around the world.
As one of the few people looking for and identifying fake accounts impacting civic activity outside of “priority” regions, Zhang struggled with the power she had been handed.
“We focus upon harm and priority regions like the United States and Western Europe,” Zhang wrote, adding that “it became impossible to read the news and monitor world events without feeling the weight of my own responsibility.”
In Bolivia, Zhang said she found “inauthentic activity supporting the opposition presidential candidate in 2019” and chose not to prioritize it. Months later, Bolivian politics fell into turmoil, leading to the resignation of President Evo Morales and “mass protests leading to dozens of deaths.”


buzzfeed--2020-09-14--Andrew Gillum Has Come Out As Bisexual

Andrew Gillum Has Come Out As Bisexual

Andrew Gillum , the Democrat who narrowly lost the 2018 Florida governor 's race to Republican Ron DeSantis , has come out publicly as bisexual .
`` I don ’ t identify as gay , but I do identify as bisexual , '' Gillum told Tamron Hall in an interview that aired Monday .
`` That is something I ’ ve never shared publicly before.
” The admission comes after a difficult year for Gillum , once a rising star in the Democratic Party .
In March , he checked into rehab to seek treatment for alcoholism and depression after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Miami hotel room intoxicated and with another man who was said to have overdosed .
Police said they found what appeared to be crystal meth in the hotel room , although Gillum has denied taking the drug .
Gillum declined to directly answer a question from Hall about his intention upon entering the hotel room that night , but did say , `` I understand very well what people assume about that . ''
The 41-year-old former mayor of Tallahassee has previously said that losing the race for governor had weighed heavily on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been ashamed after a photo of him passed out naked in the hotel room was published by a British tabloid .
“ When that photo came out , I didn ’ t recognize the person on the floor , '' he said .
`` That was not anything more than a person being at their most vulnerable state , unconscious , having given no consent , and someone decided to use a moment where I was literally lying in my own vomit.
” Gillum 's wife , R. Jai , told Hall she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to their marriage .
“ So many people just don ’ t understand bisexuality , '' R. Jai said in the joint interview .
`` Bisexuality is just something different .
I just believe that love and sexuality exist on a spectrum .
All I care about is what ’ s between us and what agreement we make.
” Andrew Gillum also told Hall that it was not appropriate to link bisexuality with infidelity .
`` Bisexuality in and of itself does n't lead to unfaithfulness , '' he said .
`` There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ women who just because they 're married to a woman does n't mean they 're not attracted to other women , and at any point can slip up , make a mistake , do something , and that is what it is .
The same thing in bisexual relationships .
`` You can be attracted to both , you got a bigger terrain out there that you have to contend with , but you can still choose to be physically with one person . ''

Andrew Gillum, the Democrat who narrowly lost the 2018 Florida governor's race to Republican Ron DeSantis, has come out publicly as bisexual.
"I don’t identify as gay, but I do identify as bisexual," Gillum told Tamron Hall in an interview that aired Monday. "That is something I’ve never shared publicly before.”
The admission comes after a difficult year for Gillum, once a rising star in the Democratic Party.
In March, he checked into rehab to seek treatment for alcoholism and depression after he was discovered by police in a Miami hotel room intoxicated and with another man who was said to have overdosed. Police said they found what appeared to be crystal meth in the hotel room, although Gillum has denied taking the drug.
Gillum declined to directly answer a question from Hall about his intention upon entering the hotel room that night, but did say, "I understand very well what people assume about that."
The 41-year-old former mayor of Tallahassee has previously said that losing the race for governor had weighed heavily on him.
He told Hall he had been ashamed after a photo of him passed out naked in the hotel room was published by a British tabloid.
“When that photo came out, I didn’t recognize the person on the floor," he said. "That was not anything more than a person being at their most vulnerable state, unconscious, having given no consent, and someone decided to use a moment where I was literally lying in my own vomit.”
Gillum's wife, R. Jai, told Hall she knew of her husband's sexuality prior to their marriage.
“So many people just don’t understand bisexuality," R. Jai said in the joint interview. "Bisexuality is just something different. I just believe that love and sexuality exist on a spectrum. All I care about is what’s between us and what agreement we make.”
Andrew Gillum also told Hall that it was not appropriate to link bisexuality with infidelity.
"Bisexuality in and of itself doesn't lead to unfaithfulness," he said. "There are men who are in marriages with women who just because they're married to a woman doesn't mean they're not attracted to other women, and at any point can slip up, make a mistake, do something, and that is what it is. The same thing in bisexual relationships.
"You can be attracted to both, you got a bigger terrain out there that you have to contend with, but you can still choose to be physically with one person."