What did these dollars buy? A tactic based on the realization that Trump didn't have a shot at winning the popular vote. However, if he went after wavering voters in key swing states, winning the Electoral College was attainable. The goal was to isolate conservative Democrats who might vote for Trump and geo-target them -- down to their zip codes.
Looking at Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, Cambridge Analytica concentrated on those undecideds by defining thirty-two personality types and determining which voters were the most vulnerable to Trump's messages of fear and anger.
Trump revisited those geographical areas before Election Day. Simultaneously, this demographic of anxious voters received personal messages on Facebook tailored explicitly to them. These "dark posts" disappeared hours after appearing in the specified user's timeline. They remain untraceable and without any record -- except on Facebook's server.
It worked. Trump got 77,000 votes from those three swing states.
"Trumping Democracy" was first released in France in June 2017. During production, Cambridge Analytica refused all requests for interviews.
In October, the company was called upon by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) to share their records, detailing their relationship to the Trump campaign.
Democracy may not be dead yet.
The film is available to stream on Amazon and Vimeo beginning November 21. The DVD will be out December 5, and is available now for pre-order. Group screening options available.
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