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Snapshot: Lies, Lies, Lies
Donald Trump, JD Vance and Elon Musk are intensifying their strategy of lying to confuse and enrage voters
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A unified, well-functioning, democratic society depends on shared understanding of factual reality. But men who are bent on fascistic rule—to consolidate their power and serve their authoritarian interests—are working aggressively and methodically to undermine the public’s capacity to know what is true or false and what is right or wrong. I offer here three snapshots of this hostile effort.
Over the last week, Donald Trump has exploited the deadly devastation of Hurricane Helene to lie about the federal response and the role of Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden. This isn’t a one-off lie, but a repeated pattern pursued in a variety of ways.
Trump lied that Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp could not reach the president to seek federal help. He lied that North Carolina’s Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the Biden-Harris administration are consciously ignoring hard-hit Republican areas for partisan reasons (something he did by delaying relief to Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria). He lied that VP Harris is “stealing” Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money and giving it to illegal immigrants to motivate them to vote for Democrats (a criminal act which non-citizens can’t and rarely ever do). And finally, he lied that North Carolinians will only get $750 in total support (actually this is just immediate, upfront aid) while “foreign countries” are getting “hundreds of billions.”
Taken together, it’s not just that Trump is lying in an effort to turn voters against the Democrats; it takes particular sociopathic cruelty to spread these lies at a time when people are genuinely suffering, seeking to recover and need help and hope. FEMA’s director, Deanne Criswell, called this a “truly dangerous narrative,” one that is fueling fear. The White House called the lie of diverting funds to migrants “poison.”
On Saturday Elon Musk, X/Twitter owner and the world’s richest man, joined Trump in Butler, PA, a rally organized to exploit the assassination attempt for political gain. Musk—who has lied that his goal for his social media platform is to encourage free speech rather than to push his increasingly extreme, right-wing and pro-Trump agenda—showcased his ridiculous lies before a highly supportive crowd.
“‘President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution,’ he lied. “He must win to preserve democracy in America.” This gaslighting was meant to drown out the facts that Trump has called for the termination of the Constitution, his stated plan to serve as a dictator on day one and his determination to ignore the will of the people and declare victory, whatever the results of voting.
That wasn’t all. Musk, who’s pretended that he’s committed to free speech, lied to the crowd that if Harris wins she would “take away your freedom of speech.” And worse, Musk told the Butler crowd that if they don’t vote and help Trump win, “this will be the last election—that’s my prediction.” He pushed this nonsense after Trump has told Evangelical Christians that they won’t have to vote again if he wins.
Lastly, let’s not forget the slick spectacle of Trump running mate JD Vance using the debate last Tuesday to push a series of lies, all part of his strategy to conceal his extremism. Here are four examples of his lies that are easy to disprove.
First, Vance denied that he supports a national abortion ban, even though he specifically has said that he does. Then, he lied that Trump “saved” the Affordable Care Act rather than trying repeatedly to kill it. He also lied that Trump “worked in a bipartisan way to ensure Americans have access to affordable care,” while also insisting that he and Trump would not end protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Lastly, he insisted that Trump “peacefully” transferred power on Jan. 20, attempting to ignore what preceded that day and refusing to say that Trump lost the election. He did all this by portraying himself as a compassionate person.
We have one month to combat this egregious disinformation campaign and to remind our fellow voters that a positive, democratic future depends on honesty. Let’s be clear: If the Republicans are lying this aggressively now, we can be sure they’ll expand it with increasing zeal if they retake our White House and control the Senate again. Trump, Vance, Musk and all the other GOP enablers will be strengthened in their belief that dishonesty is the best policy.
That would portend a grim, authoritarian future. Were that to come to pass, we would have no reason to trust any information or decision that emerges from their rule. But this ugly, divisive future is not inevitable: Each of us has the ability to overcome it by getting out the vote.
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