TikTokers are back to trolling Trump. This time, they are sharing videos of prank calls to his campaign's voter fraud hotline and encouraging others to do the same. It's like TikTokers Troll Trump's Tulsa Rally: The Remix.
Ever since Biden won the 2020 presidential race, Trump has been making slow and not-so-subtle moves to maintain power. While the prospect of a coup is no laughing matter, a lot of the Trump campaign's more visible attempts to undermine the election have been remarkably ridiculous (see: the Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference). Among these efforts, is a voter fraud hotline, which is meant to collect instances of voter fraud, presumably to help strengthen the number of lawsuits the campaign has filed against key US states. But that's not how TikTokers are using it.
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According to ABC News, the hotline has become "a nightmare" and staffers "have been bombarded with prank calls from people laughing and mocking them over Biden's win before hanging up." Other prank calls shared on TikTok show folks using the automated message as a sort of scene partner for comedy sketches.
Trump supporters are using the platform to film themselves dueting videos that show the hotline's URL and 800 number, along with instructions to "report every case of fraud" and spread the word. Anti-Trump TikTokers, on the other hand, have simply adapted the same tactics to undermine their efforts.
@ktzbtch it would be a real shame if everyone called tr*mp’s fraud hotline and did this🤭 #fyp
♬ original sound - kt
@cheesecaseacita I called the Trump voting fraud hotline and you can too Call: (888) 503-3526 #itbelikethat #fucktrump #biden2020 #fyp
♬ Elevator Music - Bohoman
@sewpheeyuh do NOT blow up the link in my comments & definitely don’t share the voter protection hotline #voteblue #progressive #biden2020 #leftist #votehimout
♬ original sound - sofia!!
This year has seen a pattern of Trump supporters gathering online, be it on TikTok or under white supremacist hashtags on Twitter, only to be swiftly and mercilessly intercepted by left-leaning teenagers with extra time on their hands, like with the Tulsa Rally. During the summer's uprisings for Black lives, K-pop stans crashed the Dallas Police Department's iWatch app by flooding it with fancams, as well. This wave of virtual counter-protesting brought sheer joy and glee to our timelines.
This strategy of overwhelming hotlines, overwhelming the streets, overwhelming police departments, and overwhelming racist hashtags — moves that rely on strength in numbers and create room for humour and whimsy — is a welcome antidote to 2020 malaise.