Too many layoffs at the Sun. Now they have sports writers moonlighting as political guys. And if you know a die hard sports person they know nothing but sports so I don't really fault him .........
The Toronto Sun tabloid ran an article that falsely claimed people were being paid $3,500 to protest against Donald Trump, based on a year-old fake news story.
The story, written by sports columnist Kurt Larson, ran with the headline “Anti-Donald Trump demonstrator paid $3,500 to protest president; Protesters took mandatory training.”
The Sun suggested some anti-Trump demonstrations “appear a bit too staged” and cited a fake news article from 2016 as evidence that protesters are being trained and paid by Hillary Clinton’s defunct presidential campaign to oppose the US president’s agenda.
The fake “ABC News” website is owned and operated by Paul Horner, an Arizona-based fake news writer previously interviewed by BuzzFeed News.
Horner spent much of the last election cycle writing outlandish articles that were often picked up by Trump supporters. His hoax about fake protesters, first published in March of 2016, was even shared by Trump’s then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
After Trump’s election, Horner gave numerous interviews to various media outlets about the phenomenon of fake news and what impact his own work had on the presidential race.
Toronto Sun editor Adrienne Batra did not immediately respond to questions from BuzzFeed News.
Horner, after being contacted by BuzzFeed News for comment, added a new introduction to the top of the post:
“This story is not real. No one needs money to protest Donald Trump. I personally went to two Donald Trump rallies and I can say with 100% certainty that NONE of the protesters were getting paid. This story is mocking all of you sheep who think protesters are getting paid. Do your own thinking, retards.”
UPDATE
The Toronto Sun article ran under sports columnist Kurt Larson’s byline. An earlier version of this post did not include that detail.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/toronto-sun-wyd?bftwcanada&utm_term=.ssbzd90ZPy#.bt4kbzNX01
The Toronto Sun tabloid ran an article that falsely claimed people were being paid $3,500 to protest against Donald Trump, based on a year-old fake news story.
The story, written by sports columnist Kurt Larson, ran with the headline “Anti-Donald Trump demonstrator paid $3,500 to protest president; Protesters took mandatory training.”
The Sun suggested some anti-Trump demonstrations “appear a bit too staged” and cited a fake news article from 2016 as evidence that protesters are being trained and paid by Hillary Clinton’s defunct presidential campaign to oppose the US president’s agenda.
The fake “ABC News” website is owned and operated by Paul Horner, an Arizona-based fake news writer previously interviewed by BuzzFeed News.
Horner spent much of the last election cycle writing outlandish articles that were often picked up by Trump supporters. His hoax about fake protesters, first published in March of 2016, was even shared by Trump’s then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
After Trump’s election, Horner gave numerous interviews to various media outlets about the phenomenon of fake news and what impact his own work had on the presidential race.
Toronto Sun editor Adrienne Batra did not immediately respond to questions from BuzzFeed News.
Horner, after being contacted by BuzzFeed News for comment, added a new introduction to the top of the post:
“This story is not real. No one needs money to protest Donald Trump. I personally went to two Donald Trump rallies and I can say with 100% certainty that NONE of the protesters were getting paid. This story is mocking all of you sheep who think protesters are getting paid. Do your own thinking, retards.”
UPDATE
The Toronto Sun article ran under sports columnist Kurt Larson’s byline. An earlier version of this post did not include that detail.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ishmaeldaro/toronto-sun-wyd?bftwcanada&utm_term=.ssbzd90ZPy#.bt4kbzNX01
