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Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani accuses Twitter of anti-Trump conspiracy, editing his tweet to add typo

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani arrives to campaign for Republican Senate hopeful Mike Braun on Nov. 3, 2018 in Franklin Township, Indiana.

WASHINGTON – Rudy Giuliani, former New York City Mayor and personal attorney to President Donald Trump, tweeted a minor typo Friday – and by Tuesday, he knew there could only be one explanation: an anti-Trump conspiracy at the heart of Twitter. 

It began innocently enough, with Giuliani posting a tweet denouncing special counsel Robert Mueller as "out of control!" But amid the post implying Mueller was timing his indictments to embarrass Trump ahead of potential meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the president's attorney failed to leave a space between G-20 and the start of his next sentence, inadvertently creating a hyperlink to http://g-20.in/. (urls ending in .in are associated with India). 

The url wasn't in use before Giuliani's tweet, The New York Times reported, but it caught the attention of Atlanta web designer Jason Velaszquez, 37, who decided to buy the domain for $5 and post an anti-Trump message on the page. 

"Donald J. Trump is a traitor to our country," the website tells visitors. Beneath is a link to a breaking news story related to Mueller's investigation into Russian election meddling. 

"I did it, mostly, because I could," Velazquez explained to CNET.

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When Giuliani became aware of the new significance of the link embedded in his tweet –and that he was now directing Twitter users to a website with a message slamming his client – he decided this could be no innocent prank. He determined Twitter itself had to be responsible. 

He then took to the platform to draw as much attention as possible to the gaffe and expose Twitter's anti-conservative bias. 

"Twitter allowed someone to invade my text with a disgusting anti-President message," Giuliani announced. He pointed out the next sentence also lacked a space after the period "and it didn't happen." He did not note that unlike g-20.in, helsinki.either is not a valid url. 

"Don’t tell me they are not committed cardcarrying anti-Trumpers," he tweeted. "Time Magazine also may fit that description," he added, without explanation.

"FAIRNESS PLEASE!" Giuliani begged of Twitter (and Time, presumably). 

A Twitter spokesman told the Times that “the accusation that we’re artificially injecting something into a tweet is completely false.” The spokesman said Twitter does not have the capability of editing users' tweets. 

Velasquez, the prankster who capitalized on Giuliani's typo, told CNET that Giuliani reflexively blaming a social media conspiracy "speaks to how the entire administration governs – on impulse." 

"Anyone with a basic knowledge on how the internet works would know his account of what went down comes off as insane," he said. 

In January 2017, Trump named Giuliani as an adviser on cybersecurity

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