There's something very, very odd about one particular Trump social media booster named "Gary Forbes"

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Out of sheer trainwreck curiousity, I check up on the Donald Trump trending list on Twitter. While I personally can't stand Twitter as a social media platform (its awkward layout and inscrutable mix of hashtags, ampersands and misspellings and abbreviations are an assault on the eyes) and don't bother with an account of my own, it does have its purposes. And one of those purposes is to gain an idea of what's being talked about by people across the spectrum.

There's a lot being said about Trump online. A lot of it is very funny at Trump's expense. Other things by Trump supporters range from ignorant to downright bigoted and scary. But one particular name kept coming up as a key source of social media Trump propaganda: A man only identified as one "Gary Forbes".

Gary Forbes' Twitter page doesn't really offer much into who exactly this person supposedly is. He claims to be CEO of a company called "The Forbes Group". That makes it sound like he's affiliated with Forbes magazine or the Forbes family (including Malcolm Forbes and former presidential candidate Steven Forbes). However, there's nothing to indicate that he's actually associated with any of it, although it appears that's what he wants you to think.

His Twitter page contains very few personal pictures. The profile picture shows a middle aged man in his 50s, wearing a suit, against the background of an unidentified city skyline. While I suppose it's supposed to convey the sense of a saavy business type, the unintentionally comical expression on the man's face and hands raised makes it look more like some guy who's being held up at gunpoint on a city street after a night of too many cocktails.

So what does this "Gary Forbes" do? Simple. He produces graphic slides in support of Trump. Lots and lots and lots of them. And they'll pop up all over Twitter after being tweeted and re-tweeted and re-re-tweeted, etc. Most tout endorsements of Trump. Some tout Trump's nonsensical policy positions. Others just merely serve to fellate Trump the Man.

The first Gary Forbes slide I ever saw popped up on my Facebook page from one of the handful of Trump supporting friends I had, and it was a doozy. It claimed--in true North Korean Juche propaganda fashion--that Donald Trump had a "genius IQ" in the 99.9904590555 percentile. "Forbes" supposed this based strictly upon the fact Trump attended the Wharton School of Finance. And that's it. (No mention of whether or not Trump also scored 18 holes in one in a round of golf or whether a double rainbow appeared on the date of his birth or that he doesn't defecate.) Here, take a look for yourself:



That was back in October, and since then "Gary Forbes" has produced dozens upon dozens of similar Trump propaganda slides. All this would appear to be insignificant fanboyism except for the fact that they have been so widely circulated over Twitter and the internet, and that so much of what Forbes claims is just plain wrong. For example, in November, Forbes created a slide claiming that aviation legend Chuck Yeager had endorsed Trump. In fact, this incensed Yeager who never endorsed Trump and demanded Forbes remove the slide. However, this has not stopped the false claim from continued to be circulated as fact amongst Trump supporters for months afterwards. The incident gained so much notoriety that it actually came to Snopes attention, who rightfully called the BS on Forbes:

http://www.snopes.com/chuck-yeager-donald-trump-endorsement/

But Forbes on his website seems to clearly have an agenda of spreading propaganda regarding Trump, true or not, and even explains how to do it to maximum effect:

http://garyforbes.wix.com/blog#!How-to-initiate-conversations-about-Donald-Trump-on-social-media/c1sbz/55d27bb40cf2836caada619b

What is more curious is whether this "Gary Forbes" actually exists as a person. If you Google that name, most of the results lead you to sites discussing a professional basketball player of the same name who is obviously not the same guy. There's very little, however, of a "Gary Forbes" relating to either Donald Trump or this "Forbes Group". The bio on Forbes' own website is mysteriously vague, only claiming that he is an "Author/Speaker/Strategist/Negotiator" but does not list any family, educational, or professional background or give any type of CV listing his accomplishments and publications and such.

But looking a little deeper, things get even weirder. Because not only is Trump Superfan and social media booster "Gary Forbes" a CEO/author/speaker/strategist/negotiator, but apparently he's also an accomplished New Age pianist. At least according to his Youtube site and website that was created with the exact same website platform as his Trump page:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpyvaE9zG4uk8IVn5MfQM8Q
http://garyforbes.wix.com/pianist

The music that Forbes claims is his is reminiscent of that of John Tesh, if you've been so lucky to hear that in your local elevator. He claims to have a CD for sale called "The Illusion of Love" but there's no evidence of it being sold on Amazon or any other sales site. Forbes also claims a glowing review from "actor/writer/film producer" Steven Shavers, calling him an "extraordinary genius". You know, that Steven Shavers....whose name never comes up on IMBD or anywhere else as being an "actor/writer/film producer".

A little clue pops up on Forbes' musical site, however, as the copyright section gives the name "Gary Pasquariello Forbes", and a home video on the Gary Forbes Youtube site references himself as Gary Pasquariello.

Now....what does this have to do with Donald Trump and the country? Very little on the surface. But one has to really wonder if Gary Forbes/Pasquariello/Whoever is acting complete as a free agent spreading the word of Trump, creating intricately detailed slides containing false and libelous information in Trump's favor....or whether it's someone who was put up by the Trump campaign to do so, and the Trump campaign can retain a sense of plausible deniability of non-affiliation when called on the bullshit.

And sadly, this bullshit from "Gary Forbes" spreads like wildfire over social media and becomes nearly impossible to refute due to its viral effect. It does appear to be a logical fit--one con man (Trump) enlists the help of another con man ("Gary Pasquariello Forbes", i.e. the CEO/author/speaker/strategist/negotiator/pianist selling non-existent CDs that are praised by a non-existent actor/writer/film producer) to further catapault the propaganda and the lies all over the internets.

"Gary Forbes" Twitter:

https://twitter.com/gqforbes

"Gary Forbes" website:

http://garyforbes.wix.com/blog

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Everything about Trump is phony.

For all we know "Gary Forbes" could be Trump himself.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. In the 1980s, he frequently referred people to his press secretary "John Barron".

Who was none other than Trump himself, using a fake name (that he ultimately used to name his third son years later.)

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Beat me to it...

http://www.vice.com/read/remembering-john-barron-donald-trumps-spokesman-alter-ego-116

<...>
It was the billionaire businessman's first foray into media manipulation, a strategy the Republican presidential frontrunner has mastered, with his Twitter rants, his widely-publicized feuds—with networks, candidates, famous women, the people of Mexico—and his frequent threats against anyone who tries to discredit his personal narrative. By pushing the right buttons, Trump was able to get his story told the way he wanted to tell it. He was—and is—his own spin doctor, beholden to no one but himself.

"John Barron was a way for Trump to talk himself up," said Michael D'Antonio, the author of Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success, a Trump biography that was rushed to publication this September. "He'd be able to express things that he wanted expressed about himself by someone that wasn't him." In other words, Trump was his own personal cheerleader, like the extras he allegedly hired for his presidential candidacy launch.

<...>

[Tommy_Carcetti]

8. Doing some amateur investigating work, it looks like the "Gary Forbes" person is real but...

.....that it's a professional alias for Gary Pasquariello who resides somewhere in New York state.

His Facebook page, last updated in 2012:

https://www.facebook.com/garyforbespianist?pnref=friends.search

He actually does have one publication to his name, being a co-author of a 2010 book, "Take This Job and (Shove It) Love It!", currently ranked #9,497,559 in sales at Amazon. His Amazon bio claims he's the CEO and co-founder of Nicholas-Forbes Inc. Advertising & Public Relations, that he consults with "Fortune 50 companies", and that he served as an adjunct professor for Marist College, Vassar College, The College of St. Rose, Bard College and State University of New York (Unspecified). Interestingly enough, on his Amazon page he openly offered his services to commission him to write your own biography, even offering to relocate to your hometown for the project.

http://www.amazon.com/Gary-Forbes/e/B0041KTIUI/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_2

All the evidence seems to point to this guy being some sort of shady con man. However, as it relates to Trump, there's still some unanswered questions. Either:

a) He was stealthily hired by the Trump campaign to run a shadow campaign to backchannel rumors that the official campaign could plausibly deny (for example, he's currently running slides addressing salacious rumors about Ted Cruz's wife, which Trump in his own Twitter alluded to but did not specifically divulge). If the guy actually does advertise PR services, it's not out of the question.

or

b) He's a lunatic who's obsessed with boosting Trump on social media but has absolutely no relation to the Campaign

or

c) He's an internet prankster who's getting a kick out of how many gullible Trump supporters are using him as an authority on Trump thinking he's affiliated with Forbes publishing.

Any way you cut it, he's not on the fringes of social media. No less than Ann Coulter's own official Facebook page has linked to Forbes as authority:

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAnnCoulter/posts/831382086971607

If you look at his Twitter handle, he's re-tweeted by Trump supporters multiple times per hour per day:

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%40gqforbes

So either Trump and his supporters are getting trolled, or they're using this guy to do their dirty tricks on social media.

[gratuitous]

4. For folks on twitter

Like Tommy, I don't do twitter, but for someone who does, it might be useful to retweet Mr. Forbes' nonsense with the helpful proviso, "This person may not exist." For the rest of us, the ensuing shitstorm should be quite humorous.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. LOL nt

[yuiyoshida]

5. "Genius" in the world of Idiocracy

maybe.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

10. LOL. nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. The one media mention about Forbes: October 2015 New York Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/us/politics/donald-trump-twitter-use-campaign-2016.html?_r=0

Not all of the outpouring is spontaneous. Supporters have organized themselves into online squads that defend Mr. Trump. A man identifying himself as Gary Forbes has recruited volunteer “operatives” on Twitter, sending out daily emails directing them to emphasize pro-Trump messages (“Trump’s immigration plan will protect thousands of women from abuse”) and target rival candidates (“What Jeb must do for Fox Billionaire Murdoch’s $$$”). A project code-named “Magic Kingdom” took aim last week at Mr. Rubio, the senator from Florida, according to an email obtained by The New York Times.

Asked about the effort, Mr. Forbes directed questions to the Trump campaign. A Trump spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said the campaign had no affiliation with Mr. Forbes.

[Skittles]

7. he is Trump's "Randal"

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