Elon Musk responded to the recent reports that a conservative influencer was sentenced to seven months prison for posting a Hillary Clinton meme on Twitter during the 2016 election.
This meme got Douglass Mackey 7 months in jail. https://t.co/kdswMU7S1B pic.twitter.com/r4LnjHXeLG
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) October 18, 2023
As The Daily Fetched reported on Thursday, Douglass Mackey, 34, was imprisoned after the Department of Justice confirmed his conviction on a charge of Conspiracy Against Rights.
The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, said Mackey, who indicated he aimed to limit the “black turnout,” crossed the line after targeting the wrong people, according to a statement from the DOJ.
Mackay was convicted on a single count of ‘conspiring with others’ to interfere in the 2016 election.
Prosecutors claimed Mackey discussed ways of spreading material “intended variously to provoke, mislead, and, in some cases, deceive voters in the 2016 presidential election.”
However, no evidence was presented showing that anyone had been duped by the messages.
Further, the same messages were sent by anti-Trump Twitter users, and no one was charged.
Elon Musk responded to the news by pointing out that the Hillary Clinton meme “had no material impact on the election.”
Musk asked, “What prison sentences were given to those who suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop information?”
“That did have a material impact on the election,” Musk further noted:
That had no material impact on the election.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 18, 2023
What prison sentences were given out to those who suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop information? That *did* have a material impact on the election.
Others chimed in:
Russiagate had a material impact on the election with a large number of people still believing in collusion. But we are learning now that the Clinton-connected Alfa Bank researchers also had a significant role in attribution for the DNC hack…
— Undead FOIA 3.0 (@UndeadFoia) October 18, 2023
Still needs an investigation.
They were given jobs at CNN and MSNBC
— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) October 18, 2023
At least 4,900 unique phone numbers texted “Hillary” or a similar message on 2016’s Election Day, NBC reported.
US District Court Judge Ann Donnelly said Mackey’s actions were “nothing short of an assault on our democracy,” The New York Times reported.
Mackey’s defense lawyer, Andrew J. Frisch, said during the trial that Mackey was trying to gain attention.
“Mr. Mackey did not share these memes as some sort of grand plan,” he said, noting that it was “not a crime to vigorously support your candidate of choice.”
READ: ‘He’ll Do It Again:’ Hillary Clinton Claims Putin Will Help Trump Win in 2024
