Russia's Foreign Ministry offered election meddling on demand for its April Fools' prank
Americans disagree about allegations that Russia tampered with the 2016 presidential election on President Trump's behalf, but we can all appreciate the Russian Foreign Ministry's cheeky April Fools' joke.
On Saturday, the agency shared on social media an audio recording in Russian and English of a mock answering machine message billed as a new election meddling service being piloted at Russian consulates and embassies worldwide. "To arrange a call from a Russian diplomat to your political opponent, press one," the recording says. To "use the services of Russian hackers," press two, or "to request election interference, press three and wait until the next election campaign."
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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