We should be used by now to the uncoupling of rightwing discourse from fact. See, for example, the Daily Telegraph’s vilification of the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, on the basis that he is refusing to send vehicles discarded under the Ulez scheme to Ukraine, when the power to make this happen rests with government ministers. The US talkshow host Jesse Kelly has taken this tendency to new heights, when he illustrated his belief that European art and architecture “can’t touch ours” with an image of the Statue of Liberty. When it was pointed out on X that the landmark was a gift from France to the United States, designed by a French sculptor and a French engineer, Kelly replied: “I thought @elonmusk taking over would let freedom ring out. Guess I was wrong.” The truth, for people like Kelly, is an affront to their sacred right to be awe-inspiringly dumb.
