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#ManyPeopleAreSaying: Twitter users usurp phrase from Trump to criticize GOP nominee

LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 08: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino on October 8, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the rally, Trump said people were giving him credit for helping force Kevin McCarthy to bow out of the race for Speaker of the House. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - OCTOBER 08: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino on October 8, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. During the rally, Trump said people were giving him credit for helping force Kevin McCarthy to bow out of the race for Speaker of the House. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images)
By Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Aug 9, 2016

Twitter users usurped one of Donald Trump's most used phrases Monday night after he claimed that "many people are saying" Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state led to the killing of an Iranian scientist last week.

Shahram Amiri was convicted in Iran of spying for the United States and sentenced to death, according to The Associated Press. He was hanged last week.

"Many people are saying that the Iranians killed the scientist who helped the U.S. because of Hillary Clinton's hacked emails," Trump wrote in a tweet sent to his 10.8 million followers Monday night.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, made a similar accusation Sunday while appearing on "Face the Nation," however, no evidence has surfaced of a link between Clinton's emails and Amiri's death.

Many Twitter users took issue with the vague and potentially serious accusation, among them Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill.

"'Many people are saying' (equals) 'I made this up,'" he tweeted with Trump's comment attached.

Others took that Trumpian phrase and used it criticize the Republican presidential nominee and to share their own unsupported claims.

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