One minute, he said, "you needed to be a redneck from Kentucky and then later you had to be some kind of white dude from Minnesota. ... And then in 15 minutes, you need to be from New York, writing something in black slang."
Beskaev said some of his colleagues even traveled to the U.S. to do research.
Who is funding this crap? The Kremlin? Russian oligarchs? The Republican Party? Though I recognize there really isn't that much substantive difference between them, I guess.
What makes this totally believable is the vast numbers of people who are comfortable lying and spreading bogus innuendo on the interwebs. And it my limited experience, lying and spreading innuendo is generally a hallmark of the rightwing, of authoritarians.
Personally, I have never seen the point of lying on the interwebs. What is to be gained, except the erosion and poisoning of your integrity? Are there people who really don't believe they can win and be persuasive on the basis of fealty to their own ideas and principles? I don't get it, man!