Fake news in the Alabama Senate race surges before Election Day
The fake news mill has been working overtime in the closing days of a special election to decide Alabama’s next senator.
The seat, normally a cake walk for Republicans, is now too close to call. Multiple allegations of Republican Roy Moore’s sexual advances on underage girls when he was in his early 30s have scrambled the contest.
Making the story harder for voters to follow are Internet posts using false or made-up information to discredit the accusers. Here are a few claims we’ve swatted down.
The claim: Accuser admits she tampered with Roy Moore’s yearbook signature
The rating: Pants on Fire!
A conspiracy-minded website attempted to cast doubt on evidence presented by one of eight women who accused Moore of sexual misconduct. The misleading headline on Gateway Pundit said, "WE CALLED IT! Gloria Allred Accuser **ADMITS** She Tampered With Roy Moore’s Yearbook ‘Signature.’ "
Beverly Young Nelson (represented by lawyer Gloria Allred) accused Roy Moore of groping her when she was 16 years old and he, in his 30s, was the deputy district attorney of Etowah County. As evidence, Nelson presented a note she said Moore wrote in her high school yearbook before the incident took place.
The inscription reads, "To a sweeter, more beautiful girl I could not say Merry Christmas. Christmas 1977. Love, Roy Moore, D.A."
Below the signature reads "12-22-77, Olde Hickory House."
In a Dec. 8 Good Morning America interview, Nelson said she added the date and place of the inscription.
"He signed your yearbook?" ABC News reporter Tom Llamas asked Nelson.
"He did sign it," Nelson said.
"And you made some notes underneath?" Llamas asked.
"Yes," Nelson said.
Gateway Pundit, along with Breitbart and Fox News, jumped on the change. All three charged that Nelson said she either tampered with Moore’s signature or forged all or part of the inscription. Fox News later walked back its story.
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