Chinese American Trump fans raise election recount funds on WeChat

New fundraising arm preps for comeback, quietly steers some donations to debts

20201117 Chinese Americans Trump Supporters

Supporters, including a group in Minnesota Chinese Americans for Trump shirts, gather to rally with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in a cargo hangar in Minneapolis before the Nov. 3 election. © Reuters

MARRIAN ZHOU, Nikkei staff writer

NEW YORK -- Pro-Trump Chinese Americans are using the app WeChat to raise money to purportedly help fund recounts of the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Users in a pro-Trump group employ a train-like WeChat phenomenon known as "jie long" that allows them to copy the previous person's message, add their own name and donation amount and post it in the group again -- an effective way to keep the message highly visible.

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