Edward R. Murrow courtesy of wikiquote.org
Research proves that when a falsehood is often repeated, people tend to believe it. The phenomenon is called the illusory truth effect. One example is that Vitamin C cures a cold. Another is that the 2020 election was stolen.
A lie about Trump flourishes among Christian Evangelicals. They understand the President isn’t a practicing Christian and often refer to him as a flawed vessel. Nonetheless, they compare his leadership to another non-Christian, Cyrus the Great, a 16th-century Persian monarch who told the Jews to establish the kingdom of Israel (Isaiah 45 )
Like Cyrus, Evangelicals see Trump as part of God’s mission and believe his actions will lead to the Second Coming. Many saw the 2016 election that made him our 45th President as a sign that he was the chosen one.
That fable didn’t flourish without nurturing. It came from an ultra-conservative wing of the faith that saw church membership in decline–falling from 90% in the 1900s to 64% today. So, when Trump told televangelist Paula White-Caine she had the “it” factor,” the group saw an opportunity.
White-Caine met with Trump and the encounter was a mind-meld. She bought an apartment in Trump Tower and, with help from her Evangelist friends, they made him the center of their movement. The alliance paid off for all parties. Recently, Trump appointed White-Caine head of the White House Office of Faith. (“Trump’s Faith office…, FFRF Today, March 2025, pg. 12.) .
To bring their followers along, the Evangelicals needed to spread their message. They got help from Fox News. The media giant had enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the real estate magnate, so the new coalition was natural–though CNN’s media chief, Brian Stelter, insists some of the anchors thought Trump was crazy.
Nonetheless, he brought these anchors an audience and so they tolerated him. Over time, the symbiotic relationship paid off. Nineteen of Trump’s picks for key positions in his current administration are former Fox employees.
With Fox News in his pocket, Trump has decided to play hardball with other media operatives. Those he considers unreliable are barred from White House briefings. Their chairs have been vacated to toadies. Goodbye, Reuters and the Associated Press. Hello, TikTok and Ruthless. Head of the choir is podcaster Steve Bannon, recently appointed senior advisor to the President.
News outlets play an important role in any society. Autocracies use them to disgorge reams of propaganda. In the United States, we think of the press as the Fourth Estate. We value it so highly, that we have enshrined it in the First Amendment and made it the guardian of free speech.
That is a noble calling. Even so, its role is a conflicted one. As writer Jeet Heer of Nation points out, the media is also a business. Needing to turn a profit makes it vulnerable to pressure when the White House plays favorites. In the end, it will censor itself.
...in 2024, roughly three-quarters of the nation’s largest newspapers, the Washington Post, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times among them—refused to endorse any candidate for president. (“Morbid Symptoms,” by Jeet Heer, Nation, March 2025, pg. 14.)
Jeff Bezos, who owns the Washington Post has made an additional decision. His paper will restrict its opinion page to Libertarian priorities and [] exclude opposing points of view.
Having been a politician, I’ve seen how the bottom line can lead to distortions in the press. But I also know that a healthy press is a pesky press. While in office, there were days when I’d have preferred to open a vein in a mosquito swamp than talk to reporters. But, being a nuisance doesn’t diminish their value.They are democracy’s best defense against illusory truth.
Journalists, men, and women have faced imprisonment or died in the service of getting the facts. I honor their sacrifice. Whatever I may call them on a given day–reporters, pests, or muckrakers–if their aim is honest, they are always patriots. Citizens must be informed if democracy is to survive.
BOYCOTT TESLA
