Dear MoveOn member,
Former president of the United States Donald Trump just called for the "termination" of the Constitution.1
It came days after Trump had a meal at Mar-a-Lago with a group of Nazi white supremacists.2
If you wonder how right-wing leaders can still be supported and even beloved by millions of Americans and the vast majority of conservatives, I'll tell you one key reason.
Because of the lies spewed every day by the likes of Fox News, Sinclair, Breitbart, and the far-right hate-mongers on social media. This is the single biggest threat to American democracy.
Backed by billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and Elon Musk, these far-right news outlets and social media companies have created a disinformation bubble—and one with massive reach—in which global warming is a hoax, COVID-19 vaccines aren't safe, and the 2020 election was stolen.
Consider that the top 10 most-watched cable "news" shows last month were all on Fox News: Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and others spreading lies and hate every night to millions of Americans.3 And then there's the right wing's vast reach on talk radio, the internet, and social media, built up systematically over decades.
The left has almost none of that media infrastructure. And if we have any hope of changing the toxic discourse in our country and confronting the inequality that is at the heart of our nation's problems, we need to be able to get the truth to the American public.
That's why I created Inequality Media—which now has an audience of more than 7 million people across social media, including an unusually large percentage of conservatives and independents. That's twice the audience that Tucker Carlson has on a given night. Our videos were viewed more than 100 million times in 2022 alone, and they’ve proven to be among the most effective at shifting people's views on major issues like inflation and corporate power. We are filling a crucial messaging gap that keeps getting bigger, and more treacherous to navigate.
But as a people-powered nonprofit, we can't do any of this without the help of grassroots progressives like you.
In 2022, Inequality Media added nearly 1 million new followers across all platforms, bringing us to over 7 million followers from every state in the nation.
Core to our work is a belief that we need to engage both the head and the heart by telling stories that move and inspire, even as they inform and educate. Corporate America and the conservative movement have long understood and utilized the power of good storytelling to gain supporters.
Our strategy is working: Our videos received over 100 million views in 2022. We got out critical messages ranging from the importance of down-ballot races and the most egregious examples of money in politics to debunking myths about “self-made” “genius” billionaires and shedding light on what can—and should—be done about the monopolization of America.
But we need your help to continue to grow and keep producing even better, more effective and shareable videos to counter the right-wing disinformation bubble and get the truth to the American people.
This is some of the most effective and most important work I've ever been a part of, and I couldn't be more proud of our small-but-mighty team.
Together, we have done our part to equip millions of Americans with the truth, educating the public by using catchy, easy-to-understand videos to debunk GOP lies and explain seemingly complex economic policies.
But as successful as we were this year, it's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the tremendous need for truth-telling online, so we have big plans for 2023:
Unlike the right wing, we don't have billionaire benefactors. We have the people.
We are a people-powered nonprofit, and our work is possible only with the help of grassroots progressives like you.
With gratitude for all that you do.
–Robert Reich
Sources:
1. "Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post," CNN, December 4, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/170029?t=5&akid=340290%2E40999114%2E2J3xCd
2. "The inside story of Trump’s explosive dinner with Ye and Nick Fuentes," NBC News, November 29, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/170030?t=7&akid=340290%2E40999114%2E2J3xCd
3. "Here Are the Top-Rated Cable News Shows for Q2 2022," AdWeek, June 28, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/170033?t=9&akid=340290%2E40999114%2E2J3xCd
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