The U.S. will mark the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection on Saturday, a milestone that will confer upon the reality-dwelling citizenry a grim reminder of the potency of propaganda and how quickly it can warp perception when introduced into the public square.

Just three years ago, most of the country watched with dismay and horror as a violent MAGA mob beat back authorities and stormed the country’s citadel of democracy. The Donald Trump-incited crush of disillusioned rioters, fueled by a stream of fantastical lies, believed that the 2020 election had been stolen by sinister forces working to undermine the democratic election.

Of course, not only was their belief flatly incorrect, but evidence later emerged indicating that it was Trump who, in fact, had tried to subvert democracy.

Facts, however, have little bearing on the sentiment inside the Republican Party, which has been fed a steady diet of lies and half-truths by Fox News and the rest of the sprawling right-wing media machine. To wit, the false notion that Joe Biden nefariously stole the 2020 election is now widely shared inside the GOP. A CNN poll conducted over the summer found that nearly 70% of Republicans believe Biden’s win was not legitimate, a number that has continued to tick up.

  • jasondj@ttrpg.network
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    10 months ago

    It absolutely is. Trump isn’t a person. As long as most of the GOP is emulating him, Trump, himself, is an ideology.

    “We are not Trump” is shorthand.

    Not that that is literally a part of anybody’s campaign. Biden has had a pretty accomplished first term given the split Congress and the stacked court. That “we are not trump” is some phrase coined against dems by some right wing blogger years ago.

    You wouldn’t know that from watching the news, since every channel picks and chooses what they show and they are building their brands not just through the news that they are airing, but also by the news they are not.