Key state voters receive a flood of misleading messages in favor of Harris.
It took me a long time to realize that it was false.
Voters in key states are being bombarded with text messages that appear to come from supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris, including from her campaign. Some of these messages suggest that Harris is misleading the public about her efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, while others claim that she has "promised to support Israel in its war in Gaza." Although these texts mimic the usual format of a campaign, they lack calls to action or links to campaign sites. Strangely, if the recipient identifies as pro-Palestinian, the sender emphasizes that Harris "will always stand with Israel."
One message shared by voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania states: “I want to make sure the facts are clear. Kamala Harris's campaign has been sending contradictory ads about her position on Israel. This is what she has to do to win. I am reaching out to let you know that Kamala will always stand with Israel." Voters in both states who received these texts mentioned that the messages seemed to have a dubious origin.
Revealed internal communications indicate that the messages come from a company called Wonder Cave, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, which works with Twenty Manor, a digital advocacy firm founded by Adam Waldeck, a Republican strategist. Twenty Manor has received more than $12,000 from Defend Freedom, a PAC of Tulsi Gabbard, and nearly $33,000 from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in the past year for messaging services.
Other groups have attempted similar tactics in this election, sending texts that seem to come from pro-Harris organizations but are designed to spread confusing or false information. These messages, focused on a fictional initiative called Progress 2028, backed by a pro-Trump group, primarily target moderate Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans.
Messages about Israel and Palestine have been sent to left-leaning Democrats, formatted similarly to previous ones but tailored to a different audience. Harris's campaign declined to comment on this matter. A voter from Pennsylvania shared their initial confusion upon receiving these messages and linked it to a disguised opposition strategy. Another voter in Michigan received pro-Israel messages from Harris, to which they began to respond expressing their lack of support for Israel, receiving a link to an article that supported Harris's position in response.
Distrust grew among the text recipients, who began to question the authenticity of the messages due to the lack of response from the involved entities. A voter who chose to identify only as Zach expressed that their distrust stemmed from an informative segment on misinformation campaigns operating in their state. As they reached out to the senders, they started to realize they were caught in a game aimed at prompting them to respond in a specific way.
