Annapolis aide behind ‘fake news' website apologizes after being fired
1
Cameron Harris admits he still hasn't grasped the magnitude of being proprietor of one of the country's most notorious fake news websites. “To be honest, this is still all so new,” he said.
This week Harris, a 23-year-old Annapolis resident and Republican, went public as owner of Christian
On Wednesday, The New York Times published an article about Harris after a reporter traced the website to him, and that afternoon he was fired from his job as a legislative aide to state Del. David Vogt of Frederick. Harris, who graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina, had worked for Vogt since June.
Vogt, a Republican, said he was shocked at the Times' story, and told the Frederick News-Post he “can't support dishonesty in any way.”
Harris contributed to one of the largest narratives of the 2016 election: the perpetuation of false information masquerading as actual news.
He said his primary motivation was financial. The made-up story of fraudulent ballots in Ohio helped boost his website's value to between $115,000 and $125,000, according to The Times.
“I had a theory that there was a natural market for it,” Harris said.
He told the Times he spent about $22,000 from ad revenue on “student loans, car payments and rent.” The value of his site and others like it plummeted after Google announced it would stop placing ads on sites that promoted clearly fabricated stories.
On Wednesday, Harris posted a message on Twitter apologizing “to those disappointed by my actions.”
Yet he denied that such sites had an effect on the overall election. While he promoted false stories such as “NYPD Looking to Press Charges Against Bill Clinton for Underage Sex Ring,” he said it was only a reflection of people's preconceived biases against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
