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Former Clinton Adviser Lashes Out Over Criticism of New Site: The Mainstream Media Doesn't Understand Clinton Voters

Hillary Clinton / Getty Images
Getty Images
September 7, 2017

A former top Hillary Clinton adviser who recently founded Verrit, a pro-Clinton news source, went on a social media tirade against the mainstream media on Thursday night into Friday morning for criticizing his website, singling out a New York Times writer in the process.

Peter Daou, a strategist and internet director for Clinton's failed presidential run in 2008, is the founder of Verrit, which bills itself as "media for the 65.8 million" Americans who voted for Clinton in 2016. The site features stories like "The Republican Party Is Harmful to America's Children," "Hillary Democrats Are the Conscience of America," and "Bernie Sanders and the Mainstream Media Helped Put Trump in the White House."

The site has been the subject of criticism, including a Politico piece from Wednesday titled, "This Pro-Hillary Website Looks Like North Korean Agitprop."

Daou called it "shameful" for Politico to tweet a "hit piece" on a site "centering Clinton voters when things like DACA are happening."

Clinton endorsed the site herself on Sunday.

Daou said the site gained tens of thousands of followers after Clinton's endorsement, noting it has more followers than the Twitter account Chapo Trap House.

Chapo Trap House is a podcast with a Twitter bio led by, "SPEED BOAT DOPE COCAINE GENESIS."

Verrit has been mocked for its "verification codes," which appear on each post. It is not obvious to a casual observer what their purpose is, or why one would need to verify that an article posted on Verrit is indeed from Verrit.

This has led to many memes about the site.

https://twitter.com/crushingbort/status/905282210122563584

Not everyone was amused, however. Daou lashed out at New York Times culture writer Sopan Deb for liking a tweet "from an account with a mock Verrit insulting me."

Deb appeared to have no idea what tweet Daou was referring to.

https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/905627800610144256

Other journalists on Twitter noticed Daou's comments and did not take his side.

https://twitter.com/juliareinstein/status/905708731710791680

https://twitter.com/SonnyBunch/status/905630881959825408

Daou remains convinced that the criticism of Verrit is linked to sexism, connecting it to criticism of Clinton during the 2016 campaign.

During his late-night tirade, Daou blamed the media for not understanding Clinton voters.

He went after individual reporters who criticized his site.

https://twitter.com/peterdaou/status/905558535483817985

Daou woke up Thursday ready to continue the fight.

For those curious, this is the meme Deb "liked":