Beware of lies rebranded as truth
We just handed the government over to liars and felons who would create an American Oligarchy to rule over the rest of us. Their contempt for the truth is already on full display.
From Syria to Seoul, people are striving to rid themselves of dictators. Here, in what has long been the beacon of freedom to the world, we handed the government over to liars and felons who would create an American Oligarchy to rule over the rest of us. Their contempt for the truth is already on full display.
I host a radio show every Saturday. We talk about politics, governing, and American society. My guests are journalists, historians, artists, politicians, and advocates. It airs on a progressive radio station. Although I pick the guests, that doesn’t stop folks from sending me pitches. This morning, I woke to this:
Putin’s main propaganda network is called Pravda, that’s Russian for truth. Trump’s social network, also a platform for lies and propaganda, is called Truth Social. And now here’s a pitch for me to interview a liar coming from a PR firm called Truth PR.
This is what we have to look forward to: Lies rebranded as truth. For the next four years, the facts behind every important decision will be hidden behind a bodyguard of lies. Lies will create the issues we spend time debating.
Instead of spending our time on ways to improve the lives of the American people, we will waste it fighting about what’s real and what’s not. Applicants for jobs in the federal government are now asked who won the 2020 election. Seriously. Like spending more time on that lie is helping anyone. And while we are talking about that, the incoming administration is working on what they will do.
Mr. Trump, not yet President, but already taking credit for the things Joe Biden is accomplishing, goes on Meet the Press and lies. He tells a hapless Kristen Welker that he won the 2020 election. She says he lost. He says that’s her opinion. She moves on. He tells her that 13,099 murderers were released into our country in the last three years. She says that number goes back 40 years. He says no, it was in the last three. She moves on. These are not differences of opinion. Trump is lying. The lies inform the make-up and the policy choices of his incoming administration.
Welker, who was roundly panned when she interviewed Trump in September 2023, tried to do a better job this time. Still, she failed.
Which brings me back to the email from Truth PR, offering an interview with Dr. Immanuel. I could invite her on my show. I could ask her why she is slandering Dr. Fauci. I could ask her if she worries that he will sue her for every penny she has conned out of gullible Americans. I could ask her how she sleeps at night after using her medical credentials to bolster quack cures during the COVID pandemic.
But as fun as that would be, I suspect instead of answers, she would just plow ahead with her lies. Any organization that platforms a skunk is going to end up with the stink.
Still, the solicitation really pissed me off. Dr. Fauci served in a hostile administration and did good work that saved lives. The persistent slander is not just unfair to him, it poses a huge danger to the rest of us. It creates an alternative reality where medical efficacy is less important than whether a cure can be made believable by claims that actual science is a conspiracy. As my daughter says, “we’re all going to die.”
And, of course, it came from a company called Truth PR. For years the right wing wrapped themselves in the American flag. Then the rest of took the flag back. Democrats waved it at their convention. Harris rallies were full of chants USA, USA. But the guys on the right are smart. If they can’t have the flag, then they will just take Truth. They think that if they just call lies Truth, reality will bend their way.
They might get away with it. Trump has promised to use the full force of government to silence critics. He has given license to thugs who would enforce his lies with intimidation and violence. (Just imagine what pardoning the Jan. 6th insurrectionists means.)
Meanwhile, real truth tellers have never been more important. That’s why it is so maddening when reporters epically fail to stand for the truth. That happens nearly every time reporters tell us what Trump says. It’s not like he needs the media to be heard. He has direct access to the public through X and Truth Social. More importantly, the media cannot both be credible and act as midwife to untruths. What Donald Trump says about the past is a lie- he lost in 2020, his inauguration crowd wasn’t the largest, he did not save the ACA. And what Donald Trump says he will do the future is also a lie- he didn’t visit union workers in Michigan, he didn’t release his taxes, he didn’t come up with a plan for American health care. Reporting on what he says is not just a waste of time, it is destructive to the idea of truth, and to the trust news organizations need.
Instead, reporters should focus on what Trump does. His appointments, for example, are appalling. It doesn’t matter what he says, the lack of judgement on display is epic. Once he is takes office, there will be daily acts of the administration to report on. Some of them will be hidden behind a mountain of outrageous behavior and fabulous lies. Report on the real stuff.
Each of us has an obligation now to bear witness, every day and out loud, even in the face of threats and intimidation. Truth©- the branded lies of oligarchs and despots everywhere must not take hold here.