September 25, 2020

CNN did an investigation into the closed circle of Trump-driven disinformation, and it's hard to see how to get through to these people.

"All right, this morning, a remarkable CNN investigation," John Berman said.

"What are the results of the deliberate misinformation campaigns being staged by President Trump and his campaign? What are Trump supporters voters actually hearing? Well, really for the first time, now we know. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan spent time at a Trump event and heard some just amazing things."

And boy, he sure did.

TRUMP SUPPORTER: When people say it's fact checked, it's wrong because it's taken out of context. Like when Joe Biden fell asleep during a live interview on television.
REPORTER: Claimed that he fell asleep -- I think that was an edited one, right?
SUPPORTER: I didn't think it was -- it looked pretty live to me with no cuts in it.

"A lot of people we spoke to today are sharing posts on Facebook that later get fact checked by Facebook's third party fact checkers," O'Sullivan said.

TRUMP SUPPORTER: Anything I put on there about our president is only on for a few minutes and then all of a sudden they're fact checking me saying this, that, and the other thing, which I know is not true. Their fact checkers are wrong.
SECOND TRUMP SUPPORTER: They'll right away go to the conservative site and say, that's wrong, then they pull it. And they're not going to the liberal sites. And them are the real lies. They're the real liars out there.

"Also circulating online, more insidious forms of misinformation, including baseless claims about Vice President Joe Biden being a pedophile," O'Sullivan said.

"Do you guys seriously think that Joe Biden is a pedophile?"

"Yes, I do."

"I feel he is."

"I feel he's part of the game."

"That baseless, fabricated claim about Biden is circulating among supporters of Qanon, a conspiracy theory that the FBI says is a potential domestic terrorism threat. Some of these false claims have been amplified by the president himself. The FBI is saying that Qanon is a dangerous conspiracy theory. Does that make you think for a second, hang on, should I be following this thing?"

"No, because Qanon's bringing up the bad things about the FBI. That's why they're saying it. That's why they're afraid of it."

So there you go. You can't trust anyone except Q.

"Two things. One, I mean, it's effective. These people hear that message. The other thing is, Facebook, it's on -- I know they take some of it down, but it takes a while," Berman said.

"Please, don't kid yourself," Alysin Camerota said. Facebook has not stepped up, nor have any of the social media platforms stepped up to combat this level -- it's chilling. What we just saw was chilling."

Yes, it is.

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