BUSTED: 'Real people' in pro-Trump Facebook testimonials are actually Republican operatives

On Thursday, Gizmodo revealed that many of the Trump supporters identified as "real people whose lives have been positively impacted by President Trump’s policies" in the president's Facebook ads are actually Republican candidates and operatives.

"Take this ad that is currently running on Facebook," reported Matt Novak. "It shows Kim Sherk, who’s not identified by name in the ad, and yet is the president of the Georgia Federation of Republican Women. A Georgia newspaper, the Marietta Daily Journal recognized Sherk, which might be why these ads are running in states like California, Illinois, and Mississippi, according to the Facebook ad library, rather than her home state of Georgia ... the ad never identifies Sherk as a political operative, let alone one who’s visited the White House, as we can see from a photo posted to the Cobb County Republican Party website."

"Another ad currently being run by the Trump campaign on Facebook shows viewers a group of people sitting in a circle and talking about the dangers of a potential Biden presidency," said the report. "While it might look like a typical focus group, featuring average people off the street, the video is anything but. Some of the people in the video are former and aspiring politicians, including one woman who’s currently running for the U.S. House in Minnesota and a man who was a delegate at the Republican National Convention in both 2016 and 2020."

Trump has relied heavily on Facebook advertising to boost his presidential campaign, as Biden has caught up to him in fundraising and gone on the offensive in battleground states across the country.