The New York Times published a story alleging that a fake candidate named Dan Sullivan was created to run against Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska.
Posted by Bannon`s War Room, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 88%
Bannon`s War RoomOct 28, 2026
The New York Times published a October 28, 2026 investigation alleging that Peltola-aligned operatives recruited a same-name candidate, Dan J. Sullivan, to run for Senate and draw votes from Senator Dan Sullivan. The claim's wording ('fake candidate') is Trump's characterization, but the story's core allegation matches the claim.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
What was said
… I thought he and his family were treated very unfairly. I'm not oh, it's terrible what's happened in Alaska. So they said they didn't do this, and it turned out they did. The New York Times just released actually an incredible story on it. They created a fake candidate. They took a candidate named Dan Sullivan to run against another candidate who's a great senator named Dan Sullivan, in order to cheat in the election. They said they didn't do it, and we caught him cold, and Mary Peltola should resign from the race. …
Bannon`s War Room · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. FactCheck.org reports that on Oct. 28 the New York Times published a story saying it had uncovered evidence that operatives aligned with Mary Peltola helped recruit Daniel J. Sullivan and others to run in an attempt to siphon votes from the incumbent Sullivan.[1]
Supports. The NYT article itself, dated 2026-10-28, describes a summer 2025 directive to identify people named Dan Sullivan and a retired educator who declared a Senate run, framed as a plan to create confusion that could siphon votes from the senator.[2]
Supports. Poynter's coverage of the Times report confirms it alleged the Peltola campaign worked to recruit people named Dan Sullivan to run in order to confuse voters and draw votes from the Republican incumbent.[3]
Context. The Peltola campaign has denied involvement in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan, and the Times story is an allegation rather than an established finding; the 'fake candidate' phrasing reflects Trump's framing more than the Times' own wording.[4][5]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 2 tier 2, 2 not rated
- 1Explaining the Case of the Two Dan Sullivans on Alaska's Ballot - FactCheck.orgfactcheck.org · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Inside Democrats' Secret Effort to Stack Alaska's Ballotnytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 3There are two Dan Sullivans running for Senate in Alaska. The New York Times found out whypoynter.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Alaska Senate Bombshell Lays Bare the Shadowy Plots in Politicswsj.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 5How the New York Times broke the story on secret candidate recruiting in Alaska's Senate racealaskapublic.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Mary Peltola participated in a scheme to run a fake candidate named Dan Sullivan against Senator Dan Sullivan.Can’t tell
- The Department of Justice sued Alaska regarding voter confusion caused by two candidates named Dan Sullivan appearing on the ballot.True
- There are two candidates named Dan Sullivan running for office in Alaska.True
- The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit regarding the presence of Daniel Sullivan on the Alaska ballot.True
- The Alaska Supreme Court rejected a Republican attempt to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot.True