Fake news writer who ‘got Trump elected’ died of overdose

Paul Horner, 38, died at his Phoenix, Arizona apartment on September 18. A sheriff’s office spokesperson said his death had ‘evidence’ of an ‘accidental overdose’

A purveyor of fake news, who became famous for claiming he influenced the 2016 presidential election, died from an overdose caused by a mixture of drugs.

Paul Horner, 38, died in Phoenix on September 18. A medical examiner’s report released Tuesday determined his death was due to mixing several drugs, including the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s office autopsy and toxicology results showed that Horner had a mixture of clonazepam, despropionyl fentanyl, diazepam, ethanol and furanyl fentanyl in his system.

Drugs in the fentanyl family are 50 times stronger than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Authorities discovered Horner dead in bed. His brother, JJ, said he died peacefully in his sleep.

Horner’s family had previously indicated he used and abused prescription drugs.

Horner was known for his false stories that often went viral and misled people.

In 2016, Horner posted a fake story to several of his sites claiming a former Secret Service agent outed President Barack Obama as a gay man and a radical Muslim. 

Pictured is an appearance Horner made on CNN. He spoke with Anderson Cooper about his proliferation of fake news stories

Pictured is an appearance Horner made on CNN. He spoke with Anderson Cooper about his proliferation of fake news stories

Family said that Horner used and abused prescription drugs

Horner is again pictured dancing

Family said that Horner used and abused prescription drugs. Horner was known for his false stories that often went viral and misled people

Horner told the Arizona Republic in September 2016: 'All the stuff I write has a moral purpose of targeting things I don’t like in society'

Horner told the Arizona Republic in September 2016: ‘All the stuff I write has a moral purpose of targeting things I don’t like in society’

A key purveyor of fake news, Paul Horner, told the Washington Post in November that he believes the false stories that he planted and which went viral on Facebook contributed mightily to Trump’s shock victory. 

‘Honestly, people are definitely dumber’, Horner said. ‘They just keep passing stuff around. Nobody fact-checks anything anymore — I mean, that’s how Trump got elected.

Horner claimed that his fake news stories had a significant impact on the 2016 election. He said: 'I think Trump is in the White House because of me'

Horner claimed that his fake news stories had a significant impact on the 2016 election. He said: ‘I think Trump is in the White House because of me’

‘He just said whatever he wanted, and people believed everything, and when the things he said turned out not to be true, people didn’t care because they’d already accepted it.

‘It’s real scary. I’ve never seen anything like it’.  

Horner said he was beginning to regret just how popular a phenomenon his fake news stories became given the outcome of the election.

‘My sites were picked up by Trump supporters all the time’, he said.

‘I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don’t fact-check anything — they’ll post everything, believe anything’. 

Horner, for his part, said that he invented and planted fake news stories as an expression of ‘satire.’ 

‘All the stuff I write has a moral purpose of targeting things I don’t like in society,’ Horner told The Arizona Republic in a September 2016 interview.

Horner had been arrested in 2011 and was found in possession of more than $15,000 in drugs, including ketamine, eroin, diazepam, oxycodone, anti-anxiety med Prozac and hundreds of syringes.



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