John — let me be absolutely clear about one thing:
The Fox News Misinformation Machine is a danger to our nation. To our democracy. And to the idea of truth itself.
You’re probably thinking “yes, I know all of this.” But I want to explain to you why it matters, and how the Fox News Misinformation Machine really works.
Warning, this email is longer than usual. It’s critically important and I hope you’ll stick around until the end. But if you're short on time and already know you want to stand up to the likes of Fox News and its lies, consider clicking here and pitching in $10 right away >>
Since my appearance on The View on Tuesday, Fox News, One America News Network, and Newsmax have attacked me over 60 times, running segments smearing me, and inviting guests to attack my credibility. And that number has probably gone up since my team last checked.
Why? Because I took the conservative guest host to task for her deliberately false and misleading questions about the Russia investigation that implicated Trump.
OANN gave voice to a conspiratorial Republican Congressman – yes, Madison Cawthorn, who continues to stoke violence, and who, in a case of the pot calling the kettle black, claimed I was spreading “Russian disinformation.”
Greg Gutfeld on Fox called me “repulsive.” Jeanine Pirro focused more on attacking me as her “least favorite congressman” (a definite badge of honor). And I won’t even get into what Geraldo Rivera and Jesse Watters said.
Hours of coverage. Hours of attacks. All to protect Donald Trump. And to smear me.
So how does this Fox News Misinformation Machine really operate, and why is it a danger to our democracy.
First, Fox News will find one small moment that they can take out of context, label it as a Republican “obliterating” or “destroying” a Democrat. If the Democrat responds to the attack, they edit out the rebuttal and imply there was no response.
Second, they invite on fringe guests, fringe Congressmen, and right-wing analysts to build a ten-second clip into a day or two of coverage. The target will be called names, be told they should resign or face prison, or worse. It also results in Twitter hate and death threats.
Third, the right-wing ecosystem springs to action. “News” stories proliferate on Daily Caller, Fox News, Breitbart, and the like. Selectively edited clips are tweeted and shared. There were almost 100,000 tweets about me on Tuesday and Wednesday, almost all from right-wing figures.
Fourth, they seek to dishonestly reframe the debate on their terms, favorable to Trump and Republicans in the minds of their base. In this case, that the entire Russia investigation and impeachments were bogus, fake, or political witch hunts. With these falsehoods, they hope to distract from Trump’s repeated and corrupt efforts to get help from foreign powers during two elections.
Finally, they try to discredit those who are willing to speak the truth, so that no one knows who or what to believe. If they can take down the person, then they can discredit their ideas and hide their own wrongdoing.
It’s a lot, folks. It’s constant and never ending. And I’ll be honest, it takes a real toll on the truth.
These attacks work. Conservative voters who live in a bubble believe some of the worst lies and slanders about me. And others send me death threats.
All because I am willing to stand up to Donald Trump, and fight to protect our democracy. And I’m not going to stop.
But here’s why it really matters. I can take these attacks. But with every false story or misleading segment, our idea of shared truth is shredded. And nothing is more corrosive to a democracy than the idea that there is no truth.
But we can fight back. I know that our voices, lifted together, are stronger than this right-wing Fox News Misinformation Machine.
That’s why I’m asking: will you pitch in a few dollars to our campaign right now? We need to fight these lies and smears with the truth.
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Thank you for always having my back. Even if you can’t pitch in today, it means so much that you are in this fight with me and took the time to read this email.
We will do everything we can to fight their lies with the truth.
— Adam
