So one thing I'm seeing more of, which should surprise absolutely no one, is the line from right-wing/pro-Trump voices that Biden is some sort of super leftist socialist radical... or something ridiculous like that.

And it's something that we all saw coming. Almost exactly a year ago during one of the Dem debates, @PeteButtigieg even said as much: https://twitter.com/PeteButtigieg/status/1156367097246756871

But anyway, it reminded me of last year when someone at the Daily Wire tweeted out a clip claiming that Biden was threatening to "start a real physical revolution" if Republicans didn't cave to his agenda... or something like that?

And it was just... funny.

I wrote about it at the time. It was a pretty bland answer about how there *needed* to be compromise with others in government because what's the alternative? To start a violent revolution? If anything, it was a jab *at* people on the left. https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/right-wing-media-push-false-narrative-biden-called-physical-revolution

The Daily Wire writer edited a wildly misleading clip together and put up this story (which seems to have since been deleted by the site without a note? Unless they moved it?) https://web.archive.org/web/20190618131229/https://www.dailywire.com/news/48516/biden-suggests-starting-physical-revolution-deal-ryan-saavedra

There were something like 3 paragraphs between these two lines. The first was in the context of being willing to campaign in favor of legislation on the road. The second was him explicitly saying that you can't have a physical revolution. But Daily Wire gonna Daily Wire.

It was interesting to watch as right-wing outlets picked it up , even though it was false, and just ran with it, screaming about "bias" because other outlets weren't yet running stories blaring the lie.

The entire context is here: https://twitter.com/DavidWright_7/status/1140688689640693760

But in a fascinating/horrifying way, it was a chance to watch the way smears make their way into mainstream circles. You had Sen. Cornyn, a disingenuous Twitter troll, push the line out there (again, at no point did he "call" for anything like that). https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/right-wing-media-push-false-narrative-biden-called-physical-revolution

. @daveweigel, who was at the event, corrected misinformation as he saw it: https://twitter.com/daveweigel/status/1140762895736877057

Splinter (RIP) reported on the comments before the Daily Wire did, and provided a more accurate version of what Biden was doing (taking a perhaps ill-advised dig at Sanders supporters): https://splinternews.com/biden-if-you-dont-want-to-work-with-republicans-start-1835597845

There's also the time Fox News tried really hard to convince people that Eric Holder was telling people to literally kick Republicans (in a clip where he says specifically that he's speaking figuratively) https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-friends/todays-dumbest-controversy-idea-eric-holder-wants-democrats-literally-kick

Anyway, the point of this thread, if there is one, is to remember that narratives are exactly that: narratives. They may not be true, so before you smash that retweet button on something, take a breath.

Especially if it's something as patently ridiculous as the claim that Biden is super far to the left (personally, I wish he was). It's the same playbook right-wing media pulls out every election.