For years, WorldNetDaily has been trying to turn racist and misogynist alt-right Twitter troll Douglass Mackey into a victim because he was held accountable for his attempt to deceive voters by falsely trying to deceive black people into trying to vote on the wrong day, insisting it was a joke despite the complete lack of evidence to back that up. Bob Unruh pushed that bogus narrative again — while reporting a surprising development in the case — in a July 9 article:
During the 2016 presidential election, a jokester went online and told Democrats to “Save Time, Avoid the Line” and vote online.
WND reported the joke was by Douglass Mackey, who for the joke was convicted in New York state of “election interference.”
But he appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the decision, arguing that if the government’s case against him stands, the results necessarily would criminalize not just political misinformation and satire, but also “lies about also whether and for whom to vote. Such a sprawling political speech code is in the teeth of every applicable canon for reading criminal laws, and grossly offends the First Amendment.”
Now a report in the Washington Examiner reveals his conviction has been overturned.
Unruh offered no evidence to back up his suggestion that it was clear to everyone that Mackey is a “jokester,” nor does he explain why lies and misinformation about elections should not be criminally punished. But the overturning is on somewhat technical grounds, claiming that it was not proven that Mackey worked with others to spread his lies. Unruh didn’t mention that the court also stated that this finding stood “even assuming that he did so with the intent to injure other citizens in the exercise of their right to vote.”
Unruh kept up Mackey’s bogus victimization narrative in a July 29 article laughably — and falsely — stating that Mackey engaged in a “classic meme”:
A conservative who launched a joke at Hillary Clinton fans during the 2016 election, telling them to avoid the lines and vote online, which of course was impossible, was the target in a war from Joe Biden’s administration as soon as he took office.
Ultimately, his case was thrown out, and now he’s striking back with a lawsuit for damages.
A report at Revolver explains it is Douglass Mackey who revealed on Donald Trump Jr.’s show that he is suing the U.S. government.
The report explains, “Back in 2020, right after Joe Biden was installed in the White House, one of the very first things his weaponized DOJ did was launch a political hit job on Douglass Mackey, a conservative influencer who dared to mock Hillary Clinton with a satirical meme during the 2016 election. The meme was obviously a joke and clearly protected speech. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was the message it sent: mock the regime, and we’ll destroy your life. So, that’s exactly what the Biden regime did.”
Again, no evidence was offered that Mackey’s lie was “obviously a joke.” Unruh again failed to mention Mackey’s racist intent, given that he specifically targeted black people with his lie and that he’s on record as claiming that that black people are easily deceived. And if we’re to believe Mackey’s original lie was a “joke,” why shouldn’t we also assume that his lawsuit threat is also a joke? The guy’s a jokester, right?