Voters across America already may be familiar with the case of Douglass Mackey, known online as Ricky Vaughn, who in 2016 went to social media with a joke about voting for Hillary Clinton in that year’s presidential election by text message.
It was, actually, just an updated version of an election meme that’s been around for years. Depending on the political persuasion, it has appeared before as “Democrats vote on Tuesday, Republicans on Wednesday,” or vice versa.
But authorities failed to see Mackey’s humor, charged him with election interference, specifically., “conspiring with others in advance of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election to use various social media platforms to disseminate misinformation designed to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.”
Prosecutors claimed someone “might” have believed it. He was convicted and handed a jail term although he took that to the appeals court.
Now there have been at least two similar stunts during the 2024 election, won in a landslide by President-elect Donald Trump.
But authorities seem interested in neither.
The Daily Caller outlined the latest event: The left-wing AllVote which sent text messages to voters telling them they’d already voted.
That message was: “Records show you voted. Find where to vote early by on-demand mail ballot.”
The report explained, “The same Justice Department that threw a pro-Trump memesmith in prison for ‘election misinformation’ is currently nowhere to be found after a left-wing group sent false election information to untold numbers of swing state voters.”
The leftists later sent another text apologizing for the “error.”
AllVote claimed it did not intend to mislead.
The report noted, “The DOJ has not prosecuted or made a statement on AllVote, though at least one state official raised a red flag. A government official in New Mexico said the texts are ‘something that the feds really need to look at and crack down on.'”
The report pointed out the Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office did not respond to questions about an investigation or prosecution.
The Daily Caller said, “Their silence contrasts sharply to the federal government’s efforts to punish Mackey. Mackey was arrested by the FBI in Florida in 2021 for allegedly conspiring to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.”
Further, the report noted, leftist Kristina Wong also in 2016 posted a video telling Trump supporters to vote by text or “vote tomorrow on Super Wednesday.”
Hey Trump Supporters! Skip poll lines at #Election2016 and TEXT in your vote! Text votes are legit. Or vote tomorrow on Super Wednesday! pic.twitter.com/ES34HV0yad
— Kristina Wong (@mskristinawong) November 8, 2016
She was not charged.
WND also reported when a television entertainer, Jimmy Kimmel, told Republican voters to vote late, on Thursday or Friday after the election this year.
Jimmy Kimmel: “If you want to vote for Trump, vote late. Vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday or maybe Friday.” pic.twitter.com/Il1Ch6S0eE
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 31, 2024
He begged his audience: “If you want to vote for Trump, vote late. Vote very late. Do your voting on Thursday or maybe Friday.”
RedState reported, “The Department of Justice must immediately act upon this blatant criminal behavior. Kimmel, whose comedy has all the freshness of a bottle of Centrum Silver, used a 20-minute opening monologue to disparage former President Donald Trump and his supporters. The crux of his diatribe – Republicans should not vote for Trump.
“Unfortunately, his on-camera descent into madness culminated with a very specific criminal act. It was documented for everyone to see. On tape, archived forever.”
When I made an election joke, the Deep State used it as a pretext to conduct a fishing expedition against me, subpoenaing all financial records, leases, employment information and pay stubs, and email accounts.
Will Jimmy Kimmel enjoy the same? https://t.co/uAMI9saL2i
— Douglass Mackey (@DougMackeyCase) October 31, 2024