Harris, Trump and allies harass voters with relentless text messaging campaigns

“All day, every day,” Robyn Beyah said of the outpouring as she stood in line to attend a Kamala Harris rally outside Atlanta last week. ‘They have my number. We’re practically the best of friends.’

Beyah thinks that’s cool. She considers the text message bombings “harmless” because it is for a candidate she believes in. She even invites the Harris campaign to “harass me with text messages.” Not all voters are so charitable.

“To be honest, at this point I put it out of my mind,” said Ebenezer Eyasu of Stone Mountain, Georgia, as he stood in the same Harris rally line. He said the dozens of text messages he receives every day have become “background noise.”

Sarah Wiggins, a 26-year-old graphic designer from Kennesaw, Georgia, who is supporting Harris, prefers face-to-face persuasion. “I feel like it’s all about the people around you,” she said. “Word of mouth is underestimated.” As for the lyrics: “I’ll just delete it, to be honest. I don’t want to read it.”

Many Trump supporters are also being harassed. Several at his meeting in Tempe, Arizona, last week professed mild outrage at that.

“They’re more of an annoyance than anything,” says Morse Lawrence, 57, a physician assistant from Mesa, Arizona. “I’m also bombarded with text messages outside of politics. People wanting to buy my house, people wanting to sell me insurance, it’s all.”

He thinks it’s an effective marketing strategy for campaigns even if the vast majority of recipients don’t bite. “You go fishing and you catch two fish, you have a meal for the day.”

Jennifer Warnke, 57, of St. John’s, Arizona, also at the Trump rally, expressed mixed feelings about what is happening on her phone.

“At least they’re contacting me because no one has called me for years,” she said. “I’ve been a registered Republican all my life and no one has ever called.”

She added: “It’s annoying but it’s almost over.”

While Trump’s campaign is uniquely fixated on selling hats via text message, he shares certain characteristics with Democrats.

Both sides issue dire warnings if the other side wins. Both come up with false deadlines to make sure you hurry up with your money. Both play on the fantasy that greats – whether Harris, Trump, George Clooney, Nancy Pelosi or Donald Trump Jr. are – texting you personally, instead of the machinery that it actually is.

Texts under the name Trump Jr. have a twist, albeit transparent: “Please don’t give $5 to help Dad before his critical deadline. I mean it. Don’t. … Let me explain.”

The explanation is a link to a page asking for much more than $5. You can choose $20.24 if you’re a fundamental Trump supporter in 2024, or $47 if you think the 45th president was the best ever and want to make him the 47th.

Trump himself seems to be very into merchandise. “I’ll send you a gold MAGA hat!” say lyrics in his name. “Do I have to sign it?”

Tap through and you’ll see that the MAGA hat with gold lettering will cost you $50. But there is more.

“This is my offer to you,” says the digital Trump. “If you place your order before the midnight deadline, I can add my signature and a short personal note to the edge!” May – or maybe not.

Thirteen days after Election Day, as she prepared to take the stage for a town hall on CNN, Harris took a moment to confide in a Virginian she doesn’t know at all. At least that’s the scene outlined by a text in her name.

“Hi Chris, this is Kamala Harris,” the message read. “It would mean the world to me if you would add another donation to our campaign for my town hall on CNN tonight. Donald Trump and his allies are currently spending more money than us in the theaters of war.”

A donation of $40 is suggested. No hat is offered. Despite the cash scare in the message, Harris’ campaign and affiliated Democratic groups have raised more than $1 billion in just months and maintained a large financial advantage over Trump in the final stages of the campaign.

Ping: “It’s Elizabeth Warren.”

Ping: “From Trump: I JUST LEFT MCDONALD’S.”

Ping: “We asked NINE TIMES if you support Kamala Harris…but you never took the survey.”

Ping: “I just got out of the debate phase.” – signed by Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Ping: “This is a BIG F#@%ING DEAL.” – on behalf of Democratic strategist James Carville.

Ping: “It’s Nancy Pelosi. I want you to see this.”

Ping: “But you haven’t taken action yet to defend our majority in the Senate!?! Hurry now for $7.”

Ping: “I have a McGift for you! It’s President Trump. Would you like to take a look?”

Despite the undertones of some presidential campaign texts, experts say you can be reasonably confident that donations to official candidate campaigns or major party organizations will be used for their intended purpose.

But there are many more groups fighting for your election dollars, and not all of them are legitimate and sorting them out takes work. For example, some voter mobilization groups that claim to be funded by the left may be causing mischief from the right, or may simply be out to collect personal information about you.

This month, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin wrote to U.S. and state attorneys general to report that thousands of fraudulent text messages have been sent to young people from an anonymous source, threatening $10,000 fines or jail time if they vote in a state where they live. are not eligible to cast ballots.

The scam was intended to intimidate out-of-state students who have the legal right to vote in Wisconsin if they attend college there, or to vote at home instead, the letter said.

Over the weekend, thousands of Pennsylvania voters received a text message falsely claiming they had already voted in the election, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Monday. It was from AllVote, which election officials have repeatedly labeled a scam, the newspaper said. The group said the false claim was the result of a typographical error.

Experts say you should read the fine print at the bottom of every fundraising link you open. It should state the name of the group and where the money is going.

From there, people can go to sites like OpenSecrets or the Federal Election Commission to see breakdowns of the income and expenses of groups that are registered political action committees. High overhead costs and little or no spending on advertising or prospecting are red flags.

Despite all these pitfalls, Beverly Payne of Cumming, Georgia, who has already voted for Harris and volunteers for her, welcomes the pings.

“I get texts every 30 minutes and I answer them all,” Payne said. One favorite was about an ice cream flavor rolled out by Ben & Jerry’s for Harris, Kamala’s Coconut Jubilee, layered with caramel and topped with red, white and blue star sprinkles. “I had to make a donation for that,” she said.

“It’s our culture now, we’re all addicted,” Payne said of texting and Harris’ use of it. “Maybe that’s why she has a billion dollars.”

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Amy reported from Atlanta, Cooper from Tempe, Arizona. Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.