In April 2022, former President Barack Obama warned that the proliferation of disinformation poses a serious threat to our democratic institutions. He cautioned that it’s not necessary for people to believe disinformation to weaken democratic institutions: “You just need to flood a country’s public square with enough raw sewage. You just need to raise enough questions, spread enough dirt, plant enough conspiracy theories that citizens no longer know what to believe.”
Obama speaks from experience. As president, he was subjected to Trump’s Birtherism lies that he was a Muslim born in Kenya, and in the words of former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, “Obama pals around with terrorists.”
Conspiracy theorists are welcome in the GOP. Right-wing talk-show host Alex Jones helped start the false conspiracy that Hillary Clinton was running a pedophile sex ring in the basement of a Washington pizzeria. Nutty Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed a Jewish banking family started a California wildfire by using a space laser. How is it possible that no Republican confronted Trump when he called climate science a hoax from China?
We need to demand that Republicans stop weaponizing lies and crazy conspiracy theories and start working together with Democrats on solving America’s problem.
