In the final days of the presidential election, lies about noncitizens voting, the vulnerability of mail-in ballots and the security of voting machines are spreading widely over social media.
Fanned by former President Donald Trump and notable allies such as tech tycoon Elon Musk, election disinformation is warping voters’ faith in the integrity of the democratic process, polls show, and setting the stage once again for potential public unrest if the Republican nominee fails to win the presidency. At the same time, federal officials are investigating ongoing Russian interference through social media and shadow disinformation campaigns.
The “firehose” of disinformation is working as intended, said Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group that advocates for responsible use of technology in elections.
“This issue is designed to sow general distrust,” she said. “Your best trusted source is not your friend’s cousin’s uncle that you saw on Twitter. It’s your local election official. Don’t repeat it. Check it instead.”
With early voting ongoing, local officials such as Travis Doss in Augusta, Georgia, say they are fighting a losing battle against fast-moving social media rumors.
Doss, the executive director of the Richmond County Board of Elections, said many voters in his county do not believe absentee ballots are counted properly. Many think election officials are choosing which ballots to count based on the neighborhood from where they’re sent, or that voting machines are easily hacked.
In recent weeks, Doss himself heard a rumor that a local preacher told his entire congregation to register to vote again because the preacher had heard — falsely — that everyone had been removed from the voter registration rolls.
“Somebody hears something and then they tell people, and it’s the worst game of telephone tag there ever is,” Doss said. “It’s so hard to correct all the misinformation because there’s so many things out there that we don’t even know about.”
As early voting began in mid-October in Georgia, Doss had to remind some voters that poll workers would observe the polling place and election equipment all day, ensuring no one tampered with the process. He noted that the tabulation machines are not connected to the internet, nor are they being hacked. He also had to emphasize that the ballot drop boxes were sealed and secure.
The amount of disinformation spreading throughout the country is immense.
College students in Wisconsin have been targeted with text messages meant to intimidate them into not voting, even when they’re eligible. The Michigan State Police had to correct rumors that people were unlawfully tampering with voting machines in one precinct, when it was actually two clerk’s office employees testing the ballot tabulating devices. Scammers posing as election officials have been calling Michigan voters claiming they must provide their credit card and Social Security numbers to vote early.
“In order to protect our democracy, we must address the mis- and disinformation that is spreading like wildfire,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.
Ongoing lies
Musk, the owner of the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), has gorged on a smorgasbord of common election conspiracy theories. At a recent Trump rally in Pennsylvania, he falsely insinuated that voting machines designed by Dominion Voting Systems could steal this election from Trump. Dominion successfully sued Fox News and others for promoting that lie after the 2020 election.
Last month, Musk posted that Democrats are expediting citizenship for immigrants living in the country illegally so the party could get a permanent electoral advantage. Journalists have thoroughly debunked his claim. Trying to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment to motivate voters to the polls, Trump and his allies have for months repeated the lie that noncitizens are voting in droves.
Musk shared a bogus claim about widespread voter fraud in a Wisconsin county in the 2020 election. The targeted jurisdiction, Henrico County, posted a thread on X correcting Musk’s assertions with data. Musk also amplified a claim that Michigan’s voter rolls were packed with inactive voters and ripe for fraud. Top state officials had to rebut those false claims too.
“The most dangerous and effective thing is that retweet button,” said Jay Young, senior director of voting and democracy at Common Cause, a national voting rights group that has a social media monitoring program tracking online disinformation.
Beyond Musk’s posts, disinformation has thrived on X.
The American Sunlight Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that fights misleading information and is run by the former head of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security disinformation team, released a report this month on the scope of the problem. The report found that nearly 1,200 likely automated accounts on X are spreading Russian propaganda and pro-Trump disinformation about the presidential election.
American spy agencies believe the Kremlin is actively pushing election disinformation this year.
And nearly half the Republican candidates running for top state offices or Congress have questioned the integrity of this year’s election, primarily through social media, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. Many of the candidates’ posts include falsehoods.
Sustained lies about election integrity have consequences: State and local election officials have been bombarded by threats and harassment this year, and confidence in elections has plummeted.
According to an October NPR/PBS News/Marist poll, more than 3 in 4 Americans remain confident or very confident that state and local agencies will carry out a fair and accurate election.
Still, 58% of Americans say they are concerned or very concerned that voter fraud will occur this year. Among Republicans polled, 86% are concerned about fraud, while 55% of independents and 33% of Democrats have a similar fear.
How officials respond
Over the past four years of going to town hall meetings and other community events throughout Oconto County, Wisconsin, on the western shore of Green Bay, County Clerk Kim Pytleski has repeatedly heard from voters who say that because their preferred candidate did not win in 2020, there must be something wrong with the electoral process.
Presented with conspiracy theories, Pytleski, a Republican, doesn’t just tell voters they’re wrong; she asks where the voter got that information, and then she walks them through the specific concern with step-by-step details about the voting process.
One concern that often comes up: the volume of absentee ballot applications voters receive in the mail. Many residents think the applications are actual ballots that can be marked and returned.
Voters will claim if there were that many ballots being sent, there must be election fraud, she said. Pytleski has had to explain that those were applications, and they were coming from political parties and other groups. Voters can only receive one ballot from her office, she will tell them.
“And when we’ve explained that, for the most part, people are like, ‘OK, that makes sense. I get that,’” she said during an interview in August.
Touching her right hand to her heart and raising her hand to the sky, Pytleski said she’s a dedicated member of the Republican Party, like most of the county’s voters. But it has been challenging for her to go to those meetings and feel voters’ suspicion. She’s even been called a liar to her face.
“I’m walking into a room that feels not so super-friendly, and I have to remind them that this is the girl that rode the bus route with your children, this is the girl who grew up in that house down the road,” she said. “My name means something to me, so I would never do anything to jeopardize that or the actual process.”
Misinformation can arise after local election offices err in some way, whether it was a misprint on a ballot, an electrical power outage at a polling place or something else.
Lisa Posthumus Lyons, the Republican clerk for Kent County, Michigan, regularly reminds voters that elections are run by humans and humans make mistakes, but that there are checks and balances in place to ensure elections remain secure and transparent, she said.
On her desk, a decorative sign reminds her to “Serve the Lord with Gladness.” She said she hopes voters will share her optimism and faith in the system.
“Their rights are going to be protected, their votes are going to be counted, the election is going to be accurate and fair, and we’re going to have a good day,” she said. “Anything that arises, we’ll be ready for it. It’s as simple as that.”
Beyond listening to local election officials, voters can rely on election protection hotlines run by experts and pro-democracy advocates, said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a national legal advocacy group.
The committee is one of many voting rights groups in a coalition that is leading the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline this election season. The groups run similar hotlines for people who speak Spanish, Arabic and around 10 Asian languages.
With all the hotlines, Hewitt said, voters can call with questions or concerns about their access or about election procedures.
“This is something that we attend to not just when there’s a problem, but it’s something that we try to get ahead of,” he said. “We’re there to help guide them every step of the way.”
–Matt Vasilogambros, Stateline
Wallingford says
It’s no wonder that Russian organizations are spreading information for the benefit of Trump since Trump and Musk, the man who will have a major role in a Trump Administration, have been in contact personally with Putin. Putin is probably orchestrating the misinformation campaigns.
The Biden Administration should investigate Musk’s Defense contracts since he seems to be at Putin’s beck and call.
Putin wants a weak leader like Trump so he can manipulate him
Sid says
So your headline blames Trump and Musk. Yet the story says preachers and social media rumors. Pretty tricky of you.
FlaglerLive says
A couple of excerpts from the article, which Sid must’ve skipped:
“Fanned by former President Donald Trump and notable allies such as tech tycoon Elon Musk, election disinformation is warping voters’ faith in the integrity of the democratic process, polls show, and setting the stage once again for potential public unrest if the Republican nominee fails to win the presidency.”
“Musk, the owner of the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), has gorged on a smorgasbord of common election conspiracy theories. At a recent Trump rally in Pennsylvania, he falsely insinuated that voting machines designed by Dominion Voting Systems could steal this election from Trump. Dominion successfully sued Fox News and others for promoting that lie after the 2020 election.”
And more along the same lies.
USMC Ken says
There are over 100 law suits filed by States Attorney Generals (liberal and conservative) for various reasons, but all concerning voting (fraud, ballots, illegal migrants registering..etc) in one way or the other. One would assume that some will succeed and some wont. It will all come out in the end.
The dude says
When?
It’s been 4 years. Nothing credible so far…
When?
Jake from state farm says
The largest threat is the bias, disinformation and lies spread by all forms of the media. That goes from those that lean left and those that lean right. There is no longer sharing of facts in an unbiased factual manner. There is only opinion pieces.
Pierre Tristam says
There is no comparison between the two, and to fabricate an equivalence between the systematically knowing lies of the Trump-Musk kind, which are only comparable to Goebbels-era propaganda, and the occasional errors and exaggerations of the left that have been part of American and global politicking since Gilgamesh, is to be complicit with and an apologist of the lies.
USMC Ken says
“Occasional errors and exaggerations”? Really? They happen daily in multiple publications, news and broadcasts, and every other platform on the planet, with the help of the donors of course. The lies and misinformation is spread by both parties…They can and will continue to say them until people start believing them.
Jake from state farm says
That is your opinion sir. The FACT that FL seems it cannot run an article about anything disparaging of the current democrat nominee proves the point. Nothing about her inability to answer a question about what her policies really are. She is not cable if answering a question. You can say the same about Trump and you do but you don’t about the dear Democratic candidate. It is funny that you seem to even run a positive article promoting the current democrat nominee is also telling. Your fallback is always to “lack of equivalency”. Whether it is to Trump or to Israel going after the thugs hiding behind the skirts of the woman and children in Gaza or Lebanon. Report the facts from both sides and don’t make everything an opinion piece. Stop hiding behind your “lack of equivalency” and be equivalent.
Ray W, says
Hello Jake from state farm.
Your argument failed 40 years ago. Yet somehow it never seems to go away. Sometimes, people are just slow on the uptake.
In fall 1980, during my first week of classes at Chapel Hill, I was asked by three professors if I was “the” Ray Warren. I soon found out that a law student named Ray Warren was suing the student newspaper for failing to print his conservative editorials in response to their “liberal” editorials. He wanted equal time. At that time, the law required that all news outlets had to present equal time to competing views.
That law was soon changed. There hasn’t been any requirement that new outlets grant equal time ever since.
I have repeatedly pointed out on the FlaglerLive site that 130,000 Flagler County residents provide more than enough work to keep Mr. Tristam busy. I can’t imagine any news site ever being able to cover the antics of 330 million people, plus worldwide news, much less equal time.
But if the old law existed today, Truth Social would have to provide equal time to content that proved to Trump followers that Trump repeatedly lies. Imagine the blowback to that.
As I will repeatedly point out to the gullible among us, including you, one of the most difficult things in life is to not fool oneself. Please stop fooling yourself.
As an aside, I was called many things during my time at Chapel Hill, including fascist and public enemy number one. The other Ray was quite the character.
Every time there was a protest by the Young Republicans, the student newspaper would publish a photograph of the other Ray leading the charge, but never from close enough that people could tell that he was not me.
A woman who moved to the area got my number from the phone book. She wanted to get involved in Republic politics and had heard about “Ray Warren.” I talked with her, welcoming her to the community, and gave her the other Ray’s phone number, as I had memorized it after so many other calls. She called me back about 15 minutes later, imploring me to run for the leadership of the Young Republican party, saying that the other Ray was a complete jerk. I told her that I was a Democrat and wished her well again.
About 15 years went by and a Republican friend and fellow lawyer called me to ask if I was a homosexual. The Orlando Sentinel had run an article that day about the other Ray. The other Ray had become a judge in North Carolina. He had resigned his judicial position to run for the U.S. Congress as a conservative Republican. The national Republican party plowed hundreds of thousands of dollars into his campaign. About a week before the November election, the other Ray was outed by his homosexual lover; it was too late to replace him on the ballot. Various national Republican leaders decried the lost opportunity. My friend knew I was a Chapel Hill graduate, and he had called to gig me.
I began to periodically search the other Ray’s name just for fun. On the evening of the 2008 presidential election, a Washington Post reporter visited a D.C.-area gay bar to speak with customers about the outcome of the election. The other Ray, identified as a lawyer with the same middle initial as the Chapel Hill Ray, excitedly applauded the outcome; he was celebrating with friends.
If it actually was the other Ray, what a difference from the man who had once sued the student paper for equal time!
Jeani Whitemoon Duarte says
Could you say this in easier words? It’s a roller coaster.
Pierre Tristam says
Sure: liars destroy. Mistakes and exaggerations are reparable.
LoumeD says
And which is FlaglerLive? An exaggerator or a liar?
FlaglerLive says
Judging from our loyal readership, neither. Thank you.
Hank says
I would say FL provides very good local news for the most part. But on a national scale is it nothing but biased editorials. No balance in reporting. Based on previous comments I expect a reply about “lack of equivalency”. Just my opinion. To put it in terms liberals seem to understand and be focused on right now, Mein Kampf had loyal readership.
Seenoevilhearnoevilspeaknoevil says
Mein Kampf was Trump’s favorite reading material, according to his 1st wife, who was from a communist country, as is his 3rd wife. Search Hitler’s history and rise and compare it to Trump’s – they are so alike it is scary. Plus we are coming to that 100 year historical mark that sadly seems to be repeating it’self again and again. We already had the 100 year repeat of the Spanish (actually kansas) flu in COVID that killed millions. Here comes Hitler II, republican majority II and Great Depression II caused by that same party, just as it was 100 years ago. Republicans already got rid of one of the safety regulations helping to prevent a great depression from happening again – the Glass Steagall Act, back in the mid 1990s when they had majority House and Senate seats in Congress. Oh surrre, banks and wall street could police themselves, right? That was the argument. Then came the Great Recession of 2008 that saw whole families losing their homes, jobs and living out of their cars. I did the 2010 census and it was awful seeing so many empty homes, half-built homes from when the contractors had gone out of business, etc. Stop electing conservatives because this is what they do. NEVER forget that Rick Scott, who is trying to keep his senate seat, created legislation to shut down Social Security and Medicare and all Federal Programs!
Ray W, says
Your inability to reason in the manner taught to our founding fathers saddens me. We seldom live in the binary world of either/or. The option of neither, as Mr. Tristam chose, is the first option of a skeptic, which is the essence of reason.
Jefferson thought reason Heaven’s greatest gift to mankind.
BillC says
@LoumieD you mean like Trump at one of his rallies talking about how big Arnold Palmer’s penis is? Trump can use this touching story to bring world peace.
Dennis C Rathsam says
CALLING TRUMP A NAZI IS WHAT??????
Pierre Tristam says
Truthful hyperbole, to quote a Trump phrase.
Hank says
Pierre, Please call Trump supporters Garbage… Please please please….. It would be your trifecta.
Pierre Tristam says
No, only a few are (most of them are “fine people,” as you know) and amazingly, they occasionally like to advertise themselves here.
Ken says
Rep Dingell to Jake Tapper …he might “have to visit” her in an internment camp if Trump wins. A lie, an occasional error, or exaggeration? Your words..not mine…. either way, regardless as to how long it has been going on..” huh? Its simply “part of American and global politicking since Gilgamesh”. Again, your words, not mine..You don’t find that divisive? Its is.. and not helpful.
Sherry says
@jake. . . the Associated Press, PBS, Reuters, The Hill, BBC all have credible and factual news. Certainly Fox does NOT! They have admitted to lying about trump and the last election.
Hail Trumpler and His giddy helper says
Trump is doing exactly what Hitler did. Elon’s just along for the free cash and power his position will yield – He not dumb.
Atwp says
Why would anybody in their right mind vote for Trump. Grown some old are still going to jail for this crazy man. Remember the 2020 chaos about the election being stolen, Trump is crazy. The only voter fraud I’ve read about was involving Republicans. While I’m on the subject of the Republicans, what happened to to large caravan of immigrants coming to the country? What happened to the smoking gun a Republican man had on Joe Biden? The smoking gun didn’t exist. I think his name is Gomer. Don’t see him in the news anymore.
Laurel says
Oh my, Putin is so happy right now! The Republican Party has always considered Putin an adversary, but Trump sees him as more honest (a KGB agent) than our own intelligence. One of many red flags.
We never had social media with its multiple lies, until lately. We had faith that our votes were good, we never thought otherwise. I still have that faith. Though, as an Independent, I have been slapping the Republicans around, I still believe our Republican Supervisor of Elections is doing an excellent job. She is the only Republican I have supported these late days.
We got our mail in ballots, did our research (not just from confirmation bias outlets), filled them out, and decided to use the drop box. We went to the the Palm Coast Community Center, drove through the entrance, passed the people with Trump signs, and since we were not interested in Trump flyers, we heard the man handing them out say about us “Just horrible.” So on our way to vote, we were told we were “Just horrible.” Then we passed up the “Christians for Trump” guy, and my husband was completely upset, and offended, that anyone would call themselves a Christian (he’s a Christian) and be campaigning for Trump. We did not see the drop box and left.
Since we were heading west anyway, we went to the Library. There, we saw the drop box, with an attendant. I jumped out of the car, walked up to the drop box and smiling attendant, and showed her our ballots. She asked us to show the ballot signatures, which I did, and she confirmed they were signed and told me to deposit the ballots. I did, and she never touched them. So, what’s wrong with that?
A couple days later, I logged onto our Supervisor of Elections website http://www.FlaglerElections.gov/faq and saw that our ballots were counted. Thank you Kaiti Lenhart!
So, people, stop listening to the bullshit, and start believing in your own country again! Don’t give that asshole, Putin, anymore to smile about. Know him for what he is.
Judith G. Michaud says
We drive our ballots directly to the Supervisor’s office and hand them to an attendant and wait until he checks our signatures in his computer ! This election is far too critical for any mistakes ! I have never been more scared in my life! tRump wanted Hillary jailed for emails and here he is a convicted felon, and people are still voting for him! How can this be happening in America?
Joe D says
It happens because many people no longer think for THEMSELVES!
They see or hear something on SOCIAL MEDIA, where NO ONE has to support their OPINIONS with ANY TRUTH…and they look NO FURTHER!
People no longer QUESTION how someone arrived at that FACT?!? They simply take the MISINFORMATION and RUN with it!
In my 70 years, I have NEVER seen after EVERY speech/debate/political commercial run….a FACT CHECK analysis of the speech/debate/political commercial run…until 2016!
Guess in the history books they will call it the “Donald Trump effect.” The only closest comparison I can think of is Richard Nixon and the Watergate Hotel National
Democratic Party Headquarters break in. At least NIXON resigned….the “I am NOT a CROOK” quote still rings in my late high school ears…even today at age 70!
Jim says
In my work career I saw many instances where a person would regularly point their finger at someone or some group accusing them or some mistake or doing something wrong. What I saw time after time was that the person pointing the finger was in fact either screwing up more than anyone else or they were in fact the one breaking the rules. And that’s what I see the Republicans doing now. If you can’t stand on the facts just lie about the Democrats.
The economy is terrible bot the stock market has reached historic highs. Yet he who has filed multiple bankruptcy will solve all our worries.
Inflation is killing all of yet we’ve likely brought it under control.
Crime is out of control but the architect of January 6 and a convicted felon will save us all even though the statistics don’t back up those claims.
Haitians are eating the dogs and cats.
Children go to school as one sex and come home the same day as the opposite sex.
“I am the protector of women” says the guy who takes credit (when it suits him) for killing Roe and forcing many women into life threatening situations because doctors are afraid of going to jail.
Dominion machines cost Trump the last election and may do it again. Fox News paid $787M for promoting that BS yet the richest POS in the country puts it out there again.
I don’t know. What the Republicans stand for anymore. All I know is what they are against. And their supporters don’t do any research on what crap is said. Trump says it and Fox echoes it and that’s all the fact checking they need.
I’m sick of it and I hope there will be a large majority that joins me in voting against these liners and grifters.
Deborah Coffey says
Maybe we need to make spreading false election stories a felony. And, I certainly hope Dominion goes after Elon Musk. $800 million won’t hurt him like it hurt FOX “fake news,” but he deserves to be outed and penalized.
Kim Gridley says
Can we then convict the 51 “patriots” who swore that Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation of a felony? There were many voters who stated that had they known the laptop had been legitimate, that it would have changed their vote.
Sherry says
@kim. . . you do understand that “Hunter’ Biden is NOT running for office, correct? Geez! You also understand that even Joe Biden is no longer running for office, correct? If Hunter Biden’s lap top BS is all you can come up against the Democrats. . . while your hero trump is a twice “Impeached Convicted Felon” who has also been found “Guilty of Sexual Assault. . . what does that say about your thinking ability/moral compass/judgement???????
feddy says
Your correct Hunter is not running for office, BUT his father used his power to slow the story down. Also his laptop contained information on “The Big Guy” and the money trail. So you are correct about Hunter, he is not running but that laptop has information on Joey B.
evetS says
Hunters laptop was passed around more than Stormy Daniels. It’s content compromised like Djt s brain. Zero credibility.
Joe D says
For Freddy: way too much Fox fake news. Joe Biden took
Lengthy steps to not get involved in his son’s legal troubles and defense.
He lent m oney to his son during his drug rehab period (as a parent I have helped all of my children out TEMPORARILY during a crisis).
Joe Biden also loaned his brother money to pay off a debt. That money was repaid. There is a CLEAR and DOCUMENTED path the money took…nothing was HIDDEN.
You want to project Conspiracy theories on Bide to distract attention from the Felony conviction (s) of former President Trump, his lack of MORALS (except when on camera…which is SAD, but not technically illegal ). What WAS illegal is having his advisor pay off the mistress to keep quiet which she did, with his own money, then submit a bill for reimbursement of “consultation” to Trump’s election funds, to hide the payments!
So possibly more FACT checking is necessary on your part.
Sherry says
@feddy. . . Hunter Biden’s lap top. . . really? LOL! You know that lap top was in many different places and likely accessed by many different people. There is no way of gaining any “credible” information from it! Again. . . Fox has No Other Boogeyman to dish out.
What in the hell does Hunter’s “corrupted” lap top have to do with this election? Next Fox will be saying that somehow Kamala Harris the Democratic candidate (voted as such during the Democrat Convention) has some twisted connection to Hunter’s lap top. The total BS just goes on and on!!!
The Sour Kraut says
In other words, they are doing everything we expected them to do to seed doubt about the outcome of the election so they can circumvent the will of the people.
joe says
In their own words:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/28/us/politics/inside-the-movement-behind-trumps-election-lies.html
JW says
The basic reason for all of this is: IGNORANCE and lack of CRITICAL THINKING because of our basic K-12 education going downhill, not to talk about insufficient parenting.
Many politicians are subject to that too but they quickly learn to exploit the voting population with lies and disinformation. And, of coarse, they are doing nothing to improve the quality of education, only more sports.
Just look at other countries! It is self inflicted, helped by smart phones etc. which do the thinking for you!
Alex says
Trump knows he is a loser in any election so as usual he is going to say VP Harris cheated. He is spreading hate in our country a country that he married two immigrants, yet he is trashing all immigrants now when his Grandparents game from Germany.
He is already planning another insurrection because all he is good at is violence, hate and divide.
Think twice before you vote for him a want to be Hitler dictator. His first wife said he constantly read books about Hitler and now he is doing his best to be a modern day Hitler.
Ban hate says
Can’t wait to watch rump loose with grace and honor lol. The kkk will be out in droves claiming without any evidence that their racist won. Take that to the bank.
Sherry says
maga’s= low life/disgusting/filth:
Elon Musk’s America PAC shared a video calling Kamala Harris “the c-word” on X, the social media platform also owned by the tech billionaire.
The narrator in the 34-second ad repeatedly calls Harris a “c-word” and says other elected officials whose photos are displayed in the ad — Democrats President Joe Biden, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — are all “c-words.”
joe says
One week to go – in all the chatter, don’t lose sight of the underlying basic truth: (Credit to Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo)
“As we careen toward Election Day in a week, the day’s news is replete with reminders that Donald Trump continues to be a singular threat to free and fair elections. The complexity of the threat matrix – political violence, foreign interference, conspiracy theories, the Big Lie – can obscure that Trump plays a critical role in all of them as instigator, inciter, conspiracist, accelerant, and useful idiot.
For nearly a decade now, Trump has radicalized American politics and personally served as a catalyst for the worst impulses, extremism, and violence that have afflicted the public square. He has created, sustained, and nourished a crazed political atmosphere which pushes lone wolf actors over the edge. He has summoned and rallied a crowd of insurrectionists and turned them loose against the legislative branch in order to remain in power. He has dipped into Nazi rhetoric, dehumanized entire peoples and nationalities, trafficked in the most racist tropes, and treated women like trash. He has taken a sledgehammer to democratic institutions and the principles upon which they are based.
You know this already. None of this is new.
But as you survey today’s news, don’t forget that Trump plays a role in every single item, usually a major, active role. There is nothing subtle about him or the threat he poses, but the sheer volume of threats and the different flavors they come in make it hard to keep a clear and steady focus on how they all emanate from one man.”
Dennis C Rathsam says
THESE FOOLS DONT WANT TO HEAR THE REAL TRUTH!
Jim says
Dennis, if by FOOLS, you mean yourself, well, then I just couldn’t agree more! If you could just drag yourself away from Fox News long enough to do some actual fact checking, you’d be amazed what you’d find.
But, (because I just can’t resist – to quote a good movie:): YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!!!!
Have a great day and don’t forget to take your ulcer medicine. I’ll be you a really having an episode about now…..
And… be careful, it might develop into a stroke…!!!!
Sherry says
Thank You Jim. . . my thoughts exactly! Ole dennis simply cannot handle the truth.
Seenoevilhearnoevilspeaknoevil says
Trump is a demented, old senile facist. He only cares about his own glory. If any one of those MAGGATS hanging on to him for power say or do anything against him or to caution him, they will become enemy #1, as Trump the facist is not to be questioned!
Both of the Generals he hired to work with him – Milley and Kelly – admit he is a facist. They were there, they heard him, they worked with him, they helped save what they could of our country, they watched him and his antics. We are now at the 100 year mark of the 1920s facism of that era, except it’s now OUR country giving it fruit to bear. Our relatives who fought in WWII would be so disappointed in our nation for allowing a narcisist (sp?_ demented crazy person like Trump anywhere near power like that. All the swamp creatures have joined him.