Myrtle Beach billboard claims Trump won election. It’s not true. Who paid for it?
The chair of the Horry County Republican Party said they were not the organization who purchased a billboard advertisement alleging President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. So who paid for the billboard making the false claim?
On the billboard Trump is smiling, with two thumbs up, plastered against an American flag with the words “Trump Won Stop The Steal” written in capital red and blue letters.
Despite there being no proof of election fraud, the president and some of his allies continue to push the message that Democrats stole the election. A number of lawsuits and a series of recounts stop well short of declaring anyone other than President-elect Joe Biden as the victor.
Supporters of Trump have held rallies and Stop The Steal protests across the U.S. Those demonstrations have spared Horry County, but the billboard shows that messaging has made it to the Grand Strand.
Dreama Purdue heads the Horry County GOP and said her organization had nothing to do with the advertisement. She doesn’t believe the election was stolen because it hasn’t been certified by the electoral college yet, but she stopped short of condemning the billboard’s message.
“I can’t tell them what they should do or not do because they’re the ones who have spent their money,” she said.
The billboard is owned and operated by Myrtle Beach Outdoor Advertising, which lists a North Carolina address.
The company wouldn’t say who purchased the advertisement, but said that the person has a constitutional right to share their message. They also said the advertisement will run for three days and expires Friday at midnight.
The company did not comment when asked about why they allowed misinformation to be published.
“I think it is undermining our democracy,” said Horry County Democratic party leader Don Kohn. He added that messages like the billboard diminishes the hard work of election officials in Horry County.
Election officials like Sandy Martin, who heads the Horry County Voter Registration and Elections office, were disappointed.
“To my knowledge, there was no fraud,” she said. “We worked really, really hard to put on the election and it is discouraging when comments are made like that when we know it didn’t occur here.”
The billboard company serves counties in coastal North and South Carolina. They have boards located in Columbus, Bladen, Brunswick, Horry, Florence, and Georgetown counties, according to their website.
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter recently cracked down on Stop The Steal pages and groups, who promoted conspiracy theories and misinformation on the platforms.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 2:37 PM.
