Misinformation is rampant in America, but the problem is not the misinformation spreading like a wildfire in California. The problem is Americans believing the misinformation as if it were credible news. And too many Americans are forming solid opinions that are based on misinformation.
Belief in misinformation is a form of confirmation bias, the art of finding the news stories in the media that fit your preconceived beliefs. Confirmation bias is a great way to make yourself feel completely justified in your beliefs and confident to spread false news as if it were the gospel. Right now, political discourse in America is infested with misinformation that is being promoted by the right-wing media echo chamber as factual.
Vice President JD Vance hailed The Gateway Pundit as an excellent source of credible news that Americans need to be paying attention to. Jim Hoft, founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit interviewed VP Vance Sunday and proposed that the FBI and DHS were covering up for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and his ties with Communist China. VP Vance praised The Gateway Pundit for exposing the truth about Walz and his ties with Communist China. Since we all know that China has a communist form of government, couldn’t they have just said “China” instead of “Communist China?” Oh, but saying “Communist China” exaggerates the story.
The man who became the vice presidential running mate on the Democratic tickets had ties with China! Wow! What a great scandal for the Republicans, right? Well, Tim Walz’s relationship with China was not what a headline in The Gateway Pundit would suggest. Out of college, Walz taught American history and English at a high school in southern China. Walz and his wife made numerous educational trips to China, but Walz also strongly opposed China on its human rights record. So, the ties between Walz and “Communist China” were real, Walz wasn’t exactly promoting communism or siding with China in key issues with the United States. The story about the ties Walz had with China were completely misleading.
But The Gateway Pundit has been notorious for publishing news stories that were nothing but fake news. In 2023, the story about “Police report shows “massive 2020 voter fraud uncovered in Michigan” was FALSE. Also in 2023, the story about the New Washington state law allowing “the government to take away minors from parents if they refuse to agree to gender-transition surgery” was proven to be FALSE. And in 2022, the story about “Three doctors from the same hospital suddenly died in the same week,” after the hospital mandated a fourth COVID-19 vaccine for employees was also proven to be FALSE.
Hear more about it in the audio player above.
