Liberal news media watchdog Media Matters accused Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly of promoting a hoax in a tweet over the San Bernardino shootings yesterday, only to discover that the account that the tweet was sent from was fake.
Here is the fake account tweet:
BREAKING: One alleged shooter confirmed as white supremacist "Sam Hyde" others unconfirmed as of yet #SanBernadino pic.twitter.com/DSvVp82NLB
— Bill O'Reilly (@oreilIyfactor) December 2, 2015
Now the Media Matters (corrected) tweet with the word *fake* added.
This *fake* O'Reilly account is pushing a hoax. Debunked here: https://t.co/EjV9KGklLk (corrected) https://t.co/zW9SZOWBDN
— Media Matters (@mmfa) December 3, 2015
If Media Matters had bothered to check the account out before their erroneous tweet, they would have seen that the fake account isn’t verified and had only 97 followers—now 174—which would be ridiculously low for someone who attracts nearly 3 million viewers per night. The genuine O’Reilly account, by comparison, has 876,000 followers.
The San Bernardino killers have been identified as Syed Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27. The motive for the killings is officially unknown, but considering the arsenal of weapons Farook had at his home, it is unlikely to be a case of workplace violence.
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