Russian Bots Give GOP Slogan #SchumerShutdown Big Boost

Republicans are getting help from the Russians in the blame-game battle for the government shutdown, HuffPost has reported.

The top trending hashtag being promoted by Russian bots on Twitter is #SchumerShutdown, which GOP leaders and the White House are using to blame Democrats for the federal government shutdown, according to the Alliance for Securing Democracy, an organization led by national security officials from both political parties.

Both parties have used hashtags to blame the other for the shutdown, with the Democratic-promoted one #TrumpShutdown becoming Twitter's top trending topic worldwide on Friday, shortly before the shutdown started, according to The Hill.

In the meantime, #SchumerShutdown surpassed #ReleaseTheMemo as the highest trending hashtag among Russian influence campaigns, the HuffPost reported.

#ReleaseTheMemo refers to a campaign to pressure Republican lawmakers to release a classified memo written by House GOP aides that allegedly describes severe abuses in FBI surveillance, a memo which Democratic lawmakers have denounced as deeply misleading.

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