Alt-right members are trying to identify a woman at Rex Tillerson's hearing who they believe took photos of notes the secretary of state nominee left behind. A video recording shows the woman walking up to his seat, and pointing her phone at the notes.
Apparently based on physical features alone, Washington Post reporter Doris Truong was identified by Trump supporters on Twitter as the woman in the footage. Quickly, her name was being directly attached to the accusations.
Watch @DorisTruong secretly snap shots of Rex paperwork while confirmation was on break despicable @washingtonpost… https://t.co/NlLMn0suqV
@_0Hour1__ @FranSeenWrites @washingtonpost @DanScavino Looks like @DorisTruong to me. Same facial structure, nose,… https://t.co/CsnF9hX8ff
After hard-right outlet Gateway Pundit published the accusation with Truong's name, the alt-right viciously attacked the journalist online.
Looks >>>@DorisTruong<<< its an evil Nazi cunt
@_0Hour1__ @DorisTruong @washingtonpost @DanScavino filthy chink
@_0Hour1__ @DorisTruong @washingtonpost @DanScavino Just deport this cunt, already. Seriously, why be nice about this kind of devious shit..
@Truth_Bombers @washingtonpost @DorisTruong FIRE THE BITCH! NOW!!
When Gateway Pundit learned Truong was not the woman in the tape, they updated their story and issued a correction. However, Twitter users continued to attack her.
@jfdulac @DorisTruong @gatewaypundit BITCH WHY WERE YOU TAKING PICTURES YOU CROOK YOU WORK FOR DNC HILLARY OBAMA SORRY CHINA ISIS YOU BITCH.
The original tweet of the camera footage that tagged Truong's handle is still up. It's been retweeted almost 5,000 times.
Truong recently published an article on the Washington Post detailing what happened to her.
"The woman at the hearing wasn’t me," she wrote. "I wasn’t there, and I don’t know who she is. What we have in common is that we’re both women, and we’re both Asian. However, that should not be enough grounds for people to jump to dangerous conclusions."
BuzzFeed News has reached out to Truong.
Soon after, alt-right users targeted another Asian journalist — this time InsideClimate News reporter Lisa Song. She was assumed to be the woman in the tape after she tweeted a story related to the Tillerson hearing.
@lisalsong how does it feel to be a purveyor of #fakenews? Your life is sort of pointless, no?
While Rex Tillerson was on break, @lisalsong took out a second phone and snapped pictures of Tillerson's notes. Will Lisa confirm or deny?
@Wonder_Chick_ @lisalsong She did it..... It's on video and all over Twitter now. Pathetic!
After she was misidentified, Song's colleagues jumped to her defense and stated no one at their publication was even at the hearing.
For the Record: No one from @insideclimate was physically at Tillerson hearing. Like millions of ppl, we watched the livestream.
Song then addressed the attackers herself, tweeting, "Not all Asians look alike."
Hey twitter trolls, not all Asians look alike. I was nowhere near DC yesterday. Was in Boston/Cambridge, not even c… https://t.co/iEpvyPDNJz
Song told BuzzFeed News she's never covered the Capitol, and has never stepped foot in that building.
"It was ridiculous people decided some random person was me," she said, adding that no one had bothered to contact her to verify the claims.
She did mention, however, some people apologized to her for the mix-up — but only after she responded to their tweets directly.
She's still receiving accusatory tweets.
It appears alt-right groups are confused, as some claim multiple women still "look like" the woman in question, and they are still on the hunt to identify her.
@vman11111 @JayS2629 Sorry @lisalsong but I don't know it sure looks like the WoPo reporter
CORRECTION
Rex Tillerson is Trump's nominee for secretary of state. A previous version of this post misidentified him as the secretary of state.