CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Secretary of State Mac Warner has put together a presentation with real-life examples of foreign influence on the U.S. election process.
Warner talked about his research during an appearance Friday on MetroNews “Talkline.” He said it shows to what extent the Russians went to “sow discord.”
“Working with the Department of Homeland Security, I’ve gotten these visual images of actual manipulated data, pictures, that the Russians have used,” Warner said.
Warner cited one example that happened four days after the Nov. 8, 2016 election where the Russians altered a photo of President Trump and in separate postings urged both supporters and opponents of Trump to meet in New York City.
WV Secretary of State, Mac Warner, joins @HoppyKercheval to discuss cybersecurity and the @wvsosoffice’s newly released PowerPoint presentation containing actual examples of Russian meddling in 2016 & 2018 elections. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/iLPMoSlGTJ
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) April 19, 2019
“They put a red cross through Trump’s face saying, ‘Trump is not my president,’ and they pushed it out to people who would be Clinton supporters or people who did not like Trump and they put them on the street in New York City and the same time at the same place simply to get them to fight with one another,” Warner said.
MORE See Warner’s presentation here
The messages are mixed with the truth, Warner said.
“It’s half-truths, partial truths, selective truths, using people who supported the supreme left or the supreme right and tried to get us to go after one another,” he said.
Warner has been meeting with high school students and others to urge them to be vigilant and not forward questionable information. He said the attempts could increase in the 2020 election cycle.
“I want people to stop and think, think before you link, think before you push something out, because through the link is how they get the malware. They get the malicious software to get inside your computer,” Warner said.