The 'Birds Aren't Real' conspiracy theory is trying to takeover Trump's Truth Social

There’s a lot going on in US politics right now – and Birds Aren't Real think it’s the perfect time for them to strike.

Birds Aren’t Real, for the uninitiated, is a satirical Gen Z conspiracy theory that states birds don’t truly exist and are drone impersonations utilised by the US government to spy on Americans.

They’ve been taking the mickey for several years now and they think that, given the events surrounding Donald Trump this week, Truth Social could make for fertile hunting ground.

If you missed it, Trump appears to be at the centre of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s grand jury investigation into a hush payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels by Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen in 2016.

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Trump himself seems to think he’ll be arrested this week. The former president claimed he was going to be arrested on Tuesday and took to his Truth Social platform to call for protests to “take our nation back” – a post which has drawn comparisons to the words we heard in the build-up to the January 6 Capitol riots.

So, with all that going on, Birds Aren’t Real thinks it’s time to strike while the platform is distracted.

A caption of a video on the official Birds Aren’t Real account reads: “Trump gets arrested tomorrow. It would only take 100 of us to bring the real truth to his truth app on their darkest day! They will be so thankful!”

Peter McIndoe, the founder of Birds Aren’t Real, says in the video: “We could take over Trump’s app, Truth Social, right now. The top trending topics only have, like, 100 people talking about them. This means us as bird truths can swarm the app make our own accounts and [post] #ResearchBirdSurveillance.”

It’s not the first time Birds Aren’t Real have emerged as a political entity. Many have joined forces with counter-protesters and true conspiracy theorists to de-escalate tensions and vilify the individuals walking beside them with obnoxious chants.

The fake conspiracy theory started as a spontaneous prank by college dropout in Memphis in 2017 and has since turned into a popular youth movement designed to shine a light on the absurdity of “real” conspiracy theories.

The creators of the fake conspiracy theory Birds Aren’t Real previously said they are highlighting the current wave of misinformation by fighting “lunacy with lunacy”. What started as a spontaneous prank by 24-year-old college dropout McIndoe in Memphis in 2017 has since turned into a popular youth movement designed to shine a light on the absurdity of “real” conspiracy theories.

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