Donald Trump, Alex Jones and their allies have hurtled America into a black hole of disinformation where there’s no light or right or up or down, and Elon Musk seems to think we’ve got to plunge ourselves still deeper in. Latest case in point: Even as a crystal-clear Department of Justice complaint reveals what David Wayne DePape sought to do to Nancy and Paul Pelosi and why, right-wing mischief-makers successfully spread lies blaming the victim.
The criminal complaint filed over the weekend in federal court includes admissions direct from DePape that he broke into the house. That he sought to hold Nancy hostage — to get “the truth,” or break her kneecaps if she lied. That after Paul managed to call 911, “DePape explained that he did not leave...because, much like the American founding fathers with the British, he was fighting against tyranny without the option of surrender.” And DePape was up to his eyeballs in unhinged online conspiracy theories.
Even as these unassailable facts entered the American bloodstream, the simultaneous injection of narcotic nonsense prevented them from being absorbed by millions.
New Twitter owner Elon Musk, days after saying he would create a council to change policy on content moderation, shared with his 112.9 million followers a debunked story from a junk outlet — which once claimed Hillary Clinton died and was replaced with a body double — claiming Paul Pelosi was involved with a male sex worker. Don Trump Jr. shared with his 8.7 million Twitter followers a joke mocking Paul. Sen. Ted Cruz cheaply suggested that portrayals of DePape as a militant extremist were falsified; they are not. Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake mocked the attack, drawing chuckles at a political event. Naturally, Fox News has gotten in on the just-asking-questions act, as has the ex-president himself.
In a world where Donald Trump won the 2020 election, and the so-called Deep State’s power is absolute, and the media can never be trusted, facts are whatever hateful propagandists require them to be. God help us.
