CA Dem Rep. T.J. Cox's Campaign Mgr Admits Faking Tweet From Opponent, Gives Typical Dem Excuse

By Jennifer Van Laar | 5:15 PM on October 13, 2020

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

AP featured image — FILE – In this Jan. 17, 2019, file photo, Rep. T.J. Cox, D-Calif., of California’s 21st Congressional district, speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Cox is facing a challenge from David Valadao, the incumbent he defeated in 2018. California’s tarnished Republican Party is hoping to rebound in a handful of U.S. House races but its candidates must overcome widespread loathing for President Donald Trump and voting trends that have made the nation’s most populous state an exemplar of Democratic strength. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Democrats are all about calling legitimate social media postings from Republicans “fake” or “doctored” and getting them booted from Twitter, but of course, the rules are different when it comes to their actual doctored social media postings.

Case in point: Amanda Sands, 26-year-old campaign manager for first-term Rep. T.J. Cox (D-CA Blue Wave). Cox is locked in a heated re-election battle against the man who previously held the seat, David Valadao. Cox won that election by just 862 votes and, like many Blue Wave congressional pickups in California, wasn’t ahead on election night but made up that difference as harvested ballots were counted.

Sands sent out a tweet Monday purporting to show that Valadao had retweeted President Trump’s “California is going to hell. Vote Trump!” tweet.

Yikes @dgvaladao I knew you voted w @realDonaldTrump 99% of the time but this is next level 👎🏼 pic.twitter.com/skuCte7A2i

— Amanda Sands (@amandalsands) October 13, 2020

There was only one problem. Valadao didn’t retweet it. Sands’ “screencap” was a photoshop in which she impersonated a candidate AND doctored an image, both of which would get a Republican kicked off the platform in a heartbeat.

Sands was called out by Torunn Sinclair, an NRCC communications staffer. Sands didn’t pay enough attention to detail, and left off Valadao’s middle initial in her fake tweet.

Please report the below tweet to Twitter.

It's a fake.

When @amandalsands (@TJCoxCongress' campaign manager) fabricated this photo, she forgot the "G." in "David G. Valadao"

For example is this what a REAL retweet from @dgvaladao looks like ⬇️ #CA21 https://t.co/wp58Y8CaSl pic.twitter.com/J3WjXmmqwm

— Torunn Sinclair (@TorunnSinclair) October 13, 2020

(As of this writing, the original tweet is still up despite being reported by probably hundreds of people.)

To which Sands quickly replied:

https://twitter.com/amandalsands/status/1315848845130035201

Real mature. But what do you expect from a self-described “Campaign Barbie”?

Knowing she was caught, Sands admitted to fabricating the tweet but excused it away in typical Democrat fashion.

Sure my photoshop skills leave something to be desired but that doesn’t change the fact that your guy @dgvaladao voted w trump 99% while in congress, 21x to block the DREAM act & to strip 60k valley residents of healthcare — & clearly doesn’t share the priorities of CV families

— Amanda Sands (@amandalsands) October 13, 2020

She wrote:

Sure my photoshop skills leave something to be desired but that doesn’t change the fact that your guy @dgvaladao voted w trump 99% while in congress, 21x to block the DREAM act & to strip 60k valley residents of healthcare — & clearly doesn’t share the priorities of CV [Central Valley] families

Well, then. It’s a step up from the “He might not have actually retweeted it, but obviously he feels that way” kind of excuse, but it’s still terribly weak and against the terms of service for Twitter. Actual fake news is being peddled not just by foreign infiltrators, but by Democrat campaign managers – and Twitter says, “Meh.”