Donald Trump holds up a sign printed from the internet at a rally in Sunrise, Florida on August 10, 2016 (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Donald Trump has said before that all he knows is what he sees on the internet. And that became crystal clear at a rally in Florida yesterday when he held up a sign that had clearly been printed from the web.




The sign Trump is holding purports to show how much money the Clinton Foundation received from various countries before Secretary Clinton would later help approve weapons deals for those countries as Secretary of State. The image is very popular on right wing news sites, though it’s unclear who first created the graphic.

There have been many signs leading up to this moment but I think we can call it with 100 percent of precincts reporting: Donald Trump is officially the first Twitter account running for president.


Donald Trump holding up a sign printed from the internet (left) the graphic printed from the internet (right)

In fact, the image is the first thing that pops up when you do a search for “Clinton Foundation crooked donations” or any other version of that phrase. Who but a sentient Twitter account would be so lazy as to grab the first hit on Google Image Search?

A Google Image search for “clinton foundation crooked donations” (Screenshot)

Curiously, the graphic that Trump is holding exclusively lists predominantly Muslim countries. Other right wing websites that believe the Clinton Foundation has engaged in corrupt practices have accused Secretary Clinton of accepting money from a much more diverse array of sources, including countries like Australia, Ireland, and Norway. That more diverse graphic, notably watermarked with the Florida Republic Party’s website, wasn’t used yesterday.




Graphic popular on right wings sites about the Clinton Foundation’s alleged corruption

Both graphics appear to get at least some of their information from an International Business Times investigation from 2015. The article tries to link donations to the Clinton Foundation to extremely favorable arms deals with our allies.


The Clinton Foundation could hypothetically be the most corrupt organization on the face of the planet, and it wouldn’t have much bearing on America’s role in selling arms to our allies. We love selling arms to our allies. It’s big business, and we do it all the time. This isn’t to say that the Clinton Foundation shouldn’t continue to be investigated. But this line of inquiry definitely feels like it’s going to lead to some obvious nonpartisan conclusions about the everyday corruption of our military-industrial complex. Trump’s almost always right when he says the system’s rigged. He’s almost never right about why or how.

And when Trump holds up a sign with a list of Muslim countries, big dollar signs, and Clinton’s face on it, we know what he’s really trying to get at. It’s the oldest move in the Twitter egg’s handbook.




Update, 12:51pm: Apparently that wasn’t the only sign that Trump whipped out at yesterday’s rally in Florida. Check these out.

Donald Trump holds up a sign at a rally in Sunrise, Florida on August 10, 2016 (Photo by Johnny Louis/WireImage)


Donald Trump holds up a sign at a rally in Sunrise, Florida on August 10, 2016 (Photo by Johnny Louis/WireImage)

Donald Trump holds up a sign at a rally in Sunrise, Florida on August 10, 2016 (Photo by Johnny Louis/WireImage)


Donald Trump holds up a sign at a rally in Sunrise, Florida on August 10, 2016 (Photo by Johnny Louis/WireImage)

Donald Trump holds up a sign at a rally in Sunrise, Florida on August 10, 2016 (Photo by Johnny Louis/WireImage)

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