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The article:

Gingrich v. Gawker

By Martha M. Hamilton
Published on Tuesday, August 9th, 2011 at 11:55 a.m.

Related rulings:

Mostly False
Says his Twitter account has 1.3 million followers.

Newt Gingrich, Sunday, July 31st, 2011.

Ruling: Mostly False | Details

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Newt Gingrich claims 1.3 million Twitter followers

Newt Gingrich claims 1.3 million Twitter followers

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has had a tough time in his presidential campaign -- staff resignations, embarrassing revelations of big bucks owed to Tiffany's. But one bright spot has been his apparent command of social media.

The Georgia Republican bragged about his 1.3 million followers on Twitter after POLITICO reported that his Twitter following exceeded those of all other contenders and possible contenders for the nomination, including Sarah Palin.

"It turned out I have six times as many Twitter followers as all the other candidates combined," he said in a recent interview.

Then the website Gawker published a story contending that the bulk of those followers were fake. Our colleagues at PolitiFact Georgia did their own reporting and found many who didn't appear to be bonafide.

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Researchers: Martha M. Hamilton

Names in this article: Newt Gingrich

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