Thread by @MollyMcKew

There have been robust condemnations of the racist attacks on @KamalaHarris, & some of the individuals (incl. POTUS's son) amplifying them.

But it's important not to let the vile, hate-soaked, fear-mongering blogs like Gateway Pundit that fuel these fever dreams off the hook. /1

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1144741849900494849

Gateway Pundit was an integral part of the fabric of lies, rumors, hate, and fear that the layered narrative and conspiracy that got Donald Trump elected. This has continued unabated. If there's a woman to smear or near-Nazi narrative to defend, Gateway Pundit is there. /2

This is a widely-read "news" outlet if you inhabit the far-right, most Trumpy silo of social media.

And it is not the only one. There are a dozen-ish high-profile vile blog sites, plus many other smaller efforts, layering and layering and amplifying lies and hate. /3

"Real" conservative media (TV and radio, anyway) readily references these blogs as "oh we can't confirm this but now let's discuss it for 20 min on TV" (aka the entire purpose of Fox & Friends some days), mainstreaming this garbage into the conservative mind. /4

The bigger ones, like Gateway Pundit, have lawyers supporting their work quite boisterously -- defense and offense -- to make it annoying and expensive to sue them, stop them, or call them out. /5

I really wish anyone on the democratic/progressive moneybags side would so readily fund lawyers to go after these blogs as conservatives fund lawyers to keep them alive.

This is a vital target to take on. They are the poison fueling/populating online disinformation in America /6

(Or, a huge swath of it anyway)

Every so often they will have to pull something down -- but the stories still rattle around the echo-sites and blogs forever, deepening the conspiracy.

Enough already. /7