Russian “troll farms” flooded social media to brand Mitt Romney as a “two-headed snake” and a “globalist puppet” during the time that President Donald Trump was considering him for Secretary of State.
The Wall Street Journal’s analysis found social media accounts linked to the Kremlin spread a petition to stop Trump from nominating him for the post.
The WSJ’s report comes after a New Yorker article that claims former British spy Christopher Steele wrote a memo alleging that the Kremlin put pressure on Trump to not pick Romney.
Romney has been a top critic of Russia since he called the country the “top geopolitical foe” of the U.S. during the 2012 election.
Trump eventually picked former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, who boasted of having a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Romney is currently a U.S. Senate candidate in Utah.
