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I’ve spent the last year listening to *every* episode of the Trump campaign’s official podcast.
I found a near constant stream of misinformation, especially around voter fraud in the 2020 election. Viewer numbers are only growing...here’s what they’re taking away
I found a near constant stream of misinformation, especially around voter fraud in the 2020 election. Viewer numbers are only growing...here’s what they’re taking away
Remember the speculation from 2016 that if Trump lost, he’d start a cable news network? He’s basically done that. When we went into lockdown, the campaign started producing YouTube videos seven days a week. I focused on two shows: The Right View and Triggered.
The Right View is hosted by @LaraLeaTrump, @kimguilfoyle, @KatrinaPierson and @mercedesschlapp. It’s like if The View was all on Zoom and Meghan McCain was way too liberal to be a panelist.
Triggered is @DonaldJTrumpJr’s show— he’s said he pounds Red Bull before recording and it shows.
In this universe Trump is both hero and victim. The media, liberals, and the deep state conspire against him, but he rises above to champion the “forgotten man and woman.” This results in some dangerous rhetoric. Like on vote by mail...
For the podcast we just recorded, we focused on vote by mail. @JessicaHuseman told me that voter fraud is rare in the U.S., with vote by mail it’s *slightly* less rare. But Trump (and his campaign) keep spreading misinfo. And it isn’t new...
The president has long claimed that voter fraud is widespread— scapegoating people of color in the process. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/23/yet-again-trump-falsely-blames-illegal-voting-getting-walloped-california/
. @JennaEllisEsq said on the Trump campaign podcast, “Democrats know that they can't win fair and square. So they are wanting to manipulate the rules at every single turn.” But that’s not reality...
Vote by mail doesn’t give either party an advantage according to one recent study by Stanford University’s Democracy and Polarization lab http://www.andrewbenjaminhall.com/Thompson_et_al_VBM.pdf
The campaign is clearly investing in this programming— seven days of video is no joke. And they’re fundraising off these claims. They made a website with misleading information on vote by mail, which leads readers to a “petition.” The petition takes you right to a donation page
I reached out to the Trump campaign and White House for comment, they did not respond.
Listen to the episode for a deeper view into the world of Trump media: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/trumpinc/episodes/trump-inc-campaign-media special thanks to @jaredjaredpaul who really captured this world through his genius sound design.
Also—this is my last episode with Trump Inc., but I’m not turning away from Trump media— I’m available for freelance print and audio reporting and especially looking for a full time job making deeply reported audio stories.
