GOP Groups Ramp Up Campaign Trickery In Georgia, Wisconsin And Michigan

Republican-aligned groups are trying to elevate third-party candidates and exploit Democratic divisions in key battleground states as a way to help Donald Trump defeat Kamala Harris in next weeks presidential election.

A super PAC is sending texts to voters in Georgia urging them to join the movement for equality by voting for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president, in an apparent effort to peel support from Harris. The group is funded by a Republican donor who has given money to Donald Trump, per Politico .

A user on X, formerly Twitter, shared a screen-grab of the text, which was also confirmed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution .

In Michigan, another battleground state, Arab American voters are also receiving text messages urging them to support Donald Trump in an apparent effort to exploit opposition to President Joe Biden s and Vice President Kamala Harris support of Israel as it continues its deadly military campaign in Gaza.

Make Harris lose on account of the genocide of the Palestinian people, one of the texts reads, per NBCs Alex Seitz-Wald.

A dark-money group that is bankrolled by right-wing billionaire Elon Musk is similarly attempting to sway voters in areas of Michigan with large Arab and Muslim communities. The group ran digital ads  earlier this month about how Vice President Kamala Harris is a staunch and unyielding supporter of Israel and sent mail to voters in the state saying that Harris leans on Jewish husband Doug Emhoff to advise on high-level pro-Israel policies.

Meanwhile, the same group is simultaneously targeting Jewish voters in Pennsylvania with ads claiming that Harris has been pandering to Palestinians. Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, denounced the ads for weaponizing hate and vitriol to divide Americans.

And in Wisconsin, another Republican-tied super PAC is making robocalls urging voters to support Stein over Harris, in part due to the vice presidents position on the environmentally disruptive fossil fuel extraction technique known as fracking. Harris has disavowed her 2019 pledge to ban fracking, maintaining that the U.S. can increase clean energy production while still using fossil fuels. 

There is only one candidate for president who will fight for our planet, support a real Green New Deal and ban fracking. And its not Kamala Harris, its Jill Stein, one of the robocalls said, according to CNN .

Young voters in Wisconsin are also receiving anonymous text messages that appear to be trying to intimidate college students from casting ballots.

Republicans arent the only ones getting involved in hard-knuckle tactics days before the election. 

A Democratic-linked super PAC is attempting to take votes away from Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick by boosting a third-party candidate, in an apparent bid to aid incumbent Sen. Bob Casey (D), according to Politico . The group is running an ad on Fox News praising Constitution Party candidate Marty Selker as the choice for true conservatives and criticizing McCormicks involvement with a Chinese firm. 

Democrats employed a similar strategy in 2022 when they boosted extreme Republican primary candidates who cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election. The tactic, while controversial , paid off in the end.