In a (seemingly) surprising development, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) shared he plans to work with the incoming Trump Administration on capping credit card interest rates. But did he?
Supposedly taking to X on Nov. 15, a Bernie Sanders account—one that looks legitimate at first glance, with an extensive posting history in line with Sanders’ known politics, made the announcement.
Moreover, the account with the post in question has 12 million followers and “Joined in 2009” in its profile, adding to its face-value credibility.
The post in question, which shows 10 million views, reads:
“I look forward to working with the Trump Administration on fulfilling his promise to cap credit card interest rates at 10%.
We cannot continue to allow big banks to make record profits by ripping off Americans by charging them 25 to 30% interest rates. That is usury.”
—Nov. 15 post from alleged Bernie Sanders X account
According to X’s publicly available analytics, the post has been seen over 10 million times—a significant outlier relative the account’s other posts. By comparison, other posts on the unconfirmed account typically average between 1–1.5% of that, or 100,000–150,000 views.
Although lowering credit card interest rates aligns with Sanders’ political ethos, the post appears to have originated from an impersonation account.
In the footer of Bernie Sanders’s official website, there are links to his social media accounts—including one for X (formerly known as Twitter.)
This link leads to another account—the real Bernie Sanders account.
Strangely, on Senator’s official account, there is no mention of any sort of collaboration with the Trump Administration at this time.
Does Senator Sanders have more than one X (formerly Twitter) account with millions of followers? And if not, who is behind the mysterious account alleging collaborations that are not official and have not been announced by the Senator’s official press outlets?
The X account linked on Senator’s official website has the handle “@BernieSanders.”
Yet the X account with the post regarding the purported Trump Administration–Senator Bernie Sanders collaboration is posted on an X account with the handle “@SenSanders.”
Alarmingly, the X account that is not linked to from Senator Sanders’s official website claims to have “Joined in 2009,” whereas the account linked to from his official website appears says “Joined in November 2010″–giving the impression that the unconfirmed account has been active for longer than the account linked to Senator Sanders’s official website.
Both accounts are listed when searching for “Bernie Sanders” in X’s search function.
Fox News was quick to report on the update from the unconfirmed Bernie Sanders account—the first to “break the news”—what many would perceive as a win in bipartisanship for the Trump Administration.
But as of right now, reports that Senator Sanders will be working with the Trump Administration to lower credit card interest rates have not been confirmed by Senator Sanders himself or any of his official communication channels and should be considered unconfirmed.
Whether or not he does, the second “Bernie Sanders” X profile needs to be accounted for.
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