Dem congressional candidate creates fake Tinder profiles to score votes, hopes Party will follow suit

DCNFThomas Phippen, DCNF

(Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

 

A Democratic congressional candidate running against an incumbent of his own party has thought up the weirdest way to get votes: Catfishing potential supporters through dating apps.

Suraj Patel, a former hotel executive with a knack for fundraising, and his staff use Tinder, Bumble and Grindr, popular dating and hookup apps for mobile phones and tablets, to create fake profiles and attempt to attract people to his campaign, according to The New York Times.

“It’s kinda like catfishing,” Patel said, referring to the practice of falsely representing yourself online to lure a target into a relationship. “But you are telling people who you are.” Patel’s campaign uses a bar as election headquarters, and there, staffers use a bunch of phones to create fake profiles where they can “swipe right” on thousands of would-be dates.

Patel said he uses a picture of his brother on the profiles he creates to pick up votes. “Hi Sarah. Are you into civic engagement?” is a typical opening line once he gets a match.

Patel calls the method Tinder banking. In his race against incumbent Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the Democratic primary June 26, he says it might make a difference and even inspire the party do try new things.

“What if Tinder banking works so well that we get 1,000 extra votes? Shouldn’t the party be like: ‘Cool, let’s start doing this,’” Patel, said. “The primary is a phenomenal opportunity for us to test new ideas, new energy. I find the lack of creativity in politics appalling.”

Patel was in the news in March for an old Facebook photo of himself with U.S. Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney upon which he made a suggestive comment.

“I told her she should come to New York because we have a top shop there on Broadway, haha, that may have crossed the creepy line by a little,” Patel said in the comments to a friend in August of 2012, the New York Post reports. “We went to Top Shop. I bought a promise ring. Then they tried to arrest me,” the caption of the photo said.

Follow Thomas Phippen on Twitter

Send tips to thomas@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles