The 2020 US presidential election was riven by unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud, a constellation of lies pushed by former president Donald Trump that has come to be known as “the big lie.” One of the many conspiracy theories that animated the big lie during the election period pertained to a made-up government-run supercomputer called “Hammer” and an alleged software program called “Scorecard.” The theory alleged that the “Hammer and Scorecard” operation was used to manipulate vote counts nationwide in favor of President Joe Biden. While related theories about the malicious supercomputer date back to 2013, the particular Hammer and Scorecard misinformation campaign was pushed in October 2020 by a host of prominent partisan Trump supporters, conspiracy theorists, influencers, and conservative media outlets, who used the wedge issue of contested election results to further their agenda.
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Source: Viral Slogan: Hammer and Scorecard | Media Manipulation Casebook