MAGA on the defensive as groping charge against Trump goes viral, spreads fake conspiracies
MAGA supporters initiated a chain of conspiracy theories, targetting Kamala Harris after certain allegations against Donald Trump took the Internet by storm.
Former President Donald Trump was accused of groping a former model whom he met through the late serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier today, Stacey Williams' heavy allegations against the Republican candidate took over the Internet as she alleged that Trump sexually touched her in an incident that took place in Trump Tower in 1993.
She defined a “twisted game” between the two men that ultimately led to the alleged groping years before Epstein, who seemed to be interested in Williams at the time, was convicted of sex offences in 2019.
Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary for Trump's campaign, has since denied the allegation in a statement as reported by The Guardian. “These accusations, made by a former activist for Barack Obama and announced on a Harris campaign call two weeks before the election, are unequivocally false. It’s obvious this fake story was contrived by the Harris campaign.”
These claims emerged around the same time as Vice President Kamala Harris labelled her Republican rival a “fascist” at a CNN town hall on Wednesday in Pennsylvania. Her proclamation, in turn, aligns with Trump's longest-serving White House chief of staff, John Kelly's remarks, who also argued that his past experience with the ex-POTUS led him to believe that his former boss meets “the general definition of a fascist.”
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Trump groped a minor?
If that wasn’t enough, commentators on social media further fanned the fire with claims of Democrats allegedly having access to a bombshell video showing the former president “groping a minor” at a donor event. Democratic strategist and YouTuber Keith Edwards earlier tweeted, “I have been told that Trump groped a minor at one of his donor dinners – and that there’s video.”
As many asked for the visual proof of the accusation, Trump supporters counter-questioned Democrats’ supposedly “desperate” attempts to vilify the Republican presidential hopeful days before the election. Trump supporter Charlie Kirk wrote on the microblogging platform, “You are about to see insanely desperate stuff from Democrats. Expect fake AI generate cr*p about Trump coming soon. Stay focussed AND VOTE!.”
Another user on the website added to the trending chain, “Word is the Democrats are sitting on a bombshell video of Trump, and MAGA is already scrambling for damage control. Looks like they’re in full panic mode. This one’s going to get ugly real fast.”
Why was ‘Kamala Groped Me’ trending on X?
Ultimately, a majority of Trump supporters did not respond in kind to the barrage of negative statements launched against the former president. To counter-attack Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, MAGA supporters rained down on her parade by parroting the same allegations, replacing Trump’s name with Harris’. Soon enough, “#KamalaGropedMe” shockingly started trending at the top of the US trends chart.
An endless thread of Trump supporters joined in and initiated a chain of unwarranted false claims as they continued “joking” about a supposed traumatic experience at the hands of Harris. Someone wrote, “To all my Brothers who have spent the last 30 years suffering in silence until 2 weeks before the election, know it is not your fault. You are not alone. Many victims of Kamala's serial groping victims have come forward, 13 days before the election.#KamalaGropedMe#MeToo.”
The left-leaning crowd on the Elon Musk-led website condemned ‘Trumpers’ for reducing such a heavy conversation to mere ridicule. An X user tweeted, “#KamalaGropedMe is trending because MAGA cockroaches believe that sexual assault is a joke. They have already accepted that Trump is a sexist, a rapist, and a pedophile. Why not make a joke about someone who has never been accused of heinous crimes like that to deflect? ELON-” Meanwhile, a second said, “Not surprising to see maga got#KamalaGropedMe trending because maga thinks sexual assault is a fu**ing joke.”
So far, no video supporting the claim that Trump groped a minor has merged online.
Nevertheless, just its mention was enough to rile up the far-right. More distasteful conspiracy theories eventually expanded the tweets collection under the tag #KamalaGropedMe. A user wrote, “With "#KamalaGropedMe " trending and only 2 weeks before the election, an anonymous source is finally willing to talk about an incident that allegedly occurred at a California nightclub in 09. He claims that Kamala viciously groped him while Obama watched. A.I. pic for reference.” Another person believing that Democrats were to blame commented, “And just like that dem lies have trivialised real sexual assault #democratshatewomen #democratsareevil #kamalagropedme.”
Trump supporter Brad Perry even shared the link to a group chat titled “Kamala Groped Me Support Group.” He captioned the post, “#BREAKING: Support Group Created for the Thousands of@KamalaHarris/@KamalaHQ Victims Who Survived#KamalaGropedMe!!! Join the conversation below!”
In a previous tweet, he maintained his sardonic tone and wrote, “#BREAKING: Thousands Unite Against Groping by Sharing Their Stories!#KamalaGropedMe exhibits the compelling stories of how@KamalaHarris/@KamalaHQ has been allowed to get away with this for so many years, as she groped her way to the top and exploited thousands. Share yours!”
As mobilised by the tweet and the expanding trend, numerous others continued dropping their satirical takes on the hashtag.