The Biden campaign has spent the past two months building efforts to combat the spread of misinformation online, which will seek to rebut President Trump following the election next month.
The Washington Post reports the $10 million machine, dubbed the “Malarkey Factory,” consists of dozens of people around the country monitoring what information is gaining traction digitally, what resonates with swing-state voters, and how to fight false information amid a highly contentious election. The efforts began amid the coronavirus pandemic, which sent campaigns to operate virtually at a larger scale.
Some of the talking points the campaign has confronted include claims that Biden is a “socialist,” “creepy,” and that he’s “sleepy” regarding his age.
“Our theory of the case has been that we need to find and identify the misinformation that is actually moving voters, even if it is a small number of voters, then find who those voters are and see if we can intervene,” said Rob Flaherty, the campaign’s digital director and head of the Malarkey Factory. “There’s misinformation that inflames a base. There’s misinformation that persuades people. And there’s misinformation that suppresses a base.”
An example of how the Malarkey Factory works is found in the example of Trump’s rhetoric calling Biden a socialist in Florida. When the campaign noticed the language was resonating with some Hispanic voters in the critical swing state, Biden’s camp developed a countermessage of the former vice president, where he spoke of his love for the United States and being endorsed by former President Barack Obama. The message was then sent to Latinos across Florida to counter Trump’s message.
The campaign also fought Trump’s attacks on Biden’s mental acuity, sending countermessaging videos to targeted voters that showed him speaking clearly and articulately.
Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh chided the idea, accusing the Biden campaign of spreading falsehoods of their own about Trump. Murtaugh specifically cited claims that Trump has embraced white supremacists, called the coronavirus a hoax, and signaled a plan to dismantle Social Security, though the latter two have been fact-checked.
“If the Biden campaign wants to clean up misinformation, they should start with themselves,” Murtaugh said. “The entire foundation of the Biden campaign is built on lies, so they should police themselves.”
The Biden campaign is particularly concerned about the aftermath of the election, contemplating scenarios in which Trump tries to declare victory before all the votes are counted or refuses to leave office if he loses.
Due to the pandemic, the November election is expected to reach record-high levels of mail-in voting, meaning the results are most likely not to come in until after Nov. 3.
If Trump were to force his stay or declare an early victory, the Biden campaign has messaging ready to say that their candidate has legitimately prevailed.
The U.S. intelligence community has long warned of disinformation that may interfere with voters’ knowledge ahead of the November election, particularly coming from foreign actors such as Russia, China, and Iran.
