Ryan Gonzalez, a candidate for Colorado’s Legislature, reposted — and subsequently deleted — fake news on X (formerly Twitter) that Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is “accused of inappropriate conduct with a student, earning him the nickname of TOUCHDOWN TIMMY.”
The misinformation about Walz has been debunked by multiple fact-checkers, including Politifact, which reported that the story is “baseless” and was launched by the X account @docnetyoutube, which goes by the name “Black Insurrectionist” and is “known for spreading unsubstantiated claims.”
The Associated Press subsequently revealed the anonymous “Black Insurrectionist” account to have been created by a white man living in New York.
Thanks to people like Gonzalez, who wittingly or unwittingly, promoted the fake news about Walz on social media, it’s now been seen by millions of people, according to Politifact.
The post promoted by Gonzelez began with, “LATE-BREAKING: Explosive developments in the allegations against @TimWalz.”
Gonzalez, who’s running against Democrat Mary Young to represent House District (HD50) in northern Colorado, did not post an explanation on his X/Twitter feed informing his followers why he posted the fake Walz story, why he removed the misinformation about Walz — and whether he believes it to be true.
Gonzalez also reposted content on X from Elon Musk, Libs of TikTok, Tucker Carlson, and other hard-right sources of misinformation.
Gonzalez did not respond to an email seeking to know if he tries to verify information before posting it on his social media feeds. He didn’t respond to an email seeking a general comment for this story.
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