We often hear about the rise of misinformation and propaganda. These concepts can seem abstract and conceptual, often hard to connect with our concrete experience.
But in the last days since the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, the virulent determination to push a hate-filled narrative—whatever the facts—has been obvious, extreme and terribly dangerous. Just hours after Kirk’s assassination, Donald Trump exploited his Oval Office platform to blame the shooting on “the radical left.” It was clear that Trump recognized this moment as an opportunity to increase the right’s anger and further clamp down on his political opponents. He was not about to wait, of course, to actually learn who was the suspect and what was his background and political persuasions.
He was far from alone. Kirk’s killing has unleashed a wave of fury on the right, with social media filled with violent and furious threats that “they” must pay for this. And it’s not just the unfiltered rage that is so disturbing, but the instant trigger to blame Democrats and the left without actual facts.
The worst of this is displayed by the poisonous Stephen Miller, who once again exploited his White House position and proximity to Trump to spread ugly and dangerous lies on Fox that exacerbate the violent climate. “The Federal workers, bureaucrats, educators, professors, nurses…people celebrating and cheering the assassination of Charlie Kirk! There is a domestic terrorist movement growing in this country,” he angrily and falsely spewed. He also claimed Kirk’s last message to him was to “dismantle and take on the radical left organizations that are fomenting violence.” The reality of expanding and violent right-wing extremism is not only of no concern, but incited by vile creatures like Miller for their fascistic benefit.
We could hope the arrest of murder suspect Tyler Robinson yesterday would slow the ugly blame game, especially since this 22-year-old from Utah doesn’t so far fit any easy political categories. But I’ve seen on social media little quieting of the anger or slowing of the desire to avenge Kirk’s killing despite the fact that Robinson is not an obvious radical leftist.
Tragically, a poisonous parade of lies will continue to persuade troubled people to get on board. We can only hope that it does not lead to more political violence, which will only further fracture our fragile body politic.
But what we can do is beseech the decent and responsible among us to advocate for facts—to not fall quickly into the cesspool of conspiracy theories and false narratives that reinforce one’s doubts and biases. I know that may sound like a quaint request at a time when social media and tech billionaires grow richer by facilitating the public’s rage and unbridled emotion.
Moreover, this is especially challenging when the man occupying our White House refuses to lead responsibly and is incapable of opening his mouth without spreading more lies that serve his purposes. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t assert the necessity of getting back to facts for the good of our country and the future.
So what do you think? Can we get back to facts? Or are we as a nation in such a state of emotional turmoil that facts will remain abandoned in the drive for power? Perhaps you’d like to share how facts are important in your work and in how you engage your friends and community. Maybe, in turn, you’d like to share how it’s gotten harder to communicate with friends, family or others when there’s no acceptance of a shared set of facts.
As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity of this community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.
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Note: I will be sharing hyperlinks to sources later. I’m currently unable to include those while producing this prompt on my cellphone.
Simple answer: No, we can't get back to facts. Not as long as MAGA world - aided and abetted by trump, Miller, and the rest of the hate-filled right wing media has their agenda to push.
And when some people in the public sphere tried to say some facts - such as Kirk was a victim of a world he helped create? They get fired.
And not one word about the democrats who were slaughtered in their home. Not one word because they believe democrats are not human.