On August 5, President Donald Trump was accused of communicating online with a bot, who he thanked via Twitter, linking to the now-suspended account of what some are calling a fake user.
As Heavy reported, the now-suspended account, @ProTrump45, was advertised as that of "Nicole Mincey," whose bio described her as a "black conservative" from New Jersey and an entrepeneur in charge of a pro-Trump merchandise store.
"Trump working hard for the American people...thanks," read the original tweet, which included an image of the president and a heart emoji, according to Newsweek.
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Trump relied to say thank you, and Twitter users were quick to point out that the photo used for "Mincey's" profile picture actually was a stock photo taken of a model posing for Placeit, a company that specializes in customized apparel and technology.
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The original account was reportedly created using the name of a New Jersey college student, who told Heavy that her identity had been stolen to support the creation of "Nicole Mincey."
The account was reportedly linked to a pro-Trump apparel website whose front page mainly features images of women of color wearing Trump-branded clothes. One image even shows a woman wearing a shirt that reads: "Deplorable lives matter."
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Newsweek reported in May that at the time, nearly half of President Trump's 30 million Twitter followers were either fake accounts or bots.
Related: Donald Trump Quoted His Own Tweet in a Header
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