The Kavanaugh hearing was a clarifying moment for countless conservatives because it revealed the depths to which the other side will sink in order to get power.
I don’t think most conservatives need a reminder, but in case you‘ve forgotten...
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We saw how eager the media, Dems, and others were to push baseless claims to destroy someone without evidence.
They’ll take unsubstantiated claims and level accusations against you as if they were already true. Elected officials, members of the media, thought leaders, and beyond would attack you from all sides.
Even the future Democratic Vice Presidential nominee would be involved. @KamalaHarris
These attacks and general skepticism will only apply to you, of course. Your accuser will get only fawning coverage. Here’s @nytimes and one of their opinion columnists, @michelleinbklyn.
They’ll amplify conspiracy theories and baseless accusations against you without making any pretense of vetting them first.
Rather than have a shred of incredulity when the most ridiculous of allegations, pushed by an outright fraud, come to light, they buy the claims hook, line, and sinker.
Hard to overstate how pervasive this phenomena was.
Here’s @CNBC’s White House reporter @christinawilkie running with the entire allegation.
I needed an entire tweet to highlight @SethAbramson, who said of @MichaelAvenatti and his invented claims “the man plans to run for president; my gut tells me he doesn’t go public with these allegations unless he’s got some pretty compelling witnesses and evidence”
Even their fact checkers will push unverified allegations that would eventually be referred for prosecution. Here’s @CNN’s @ddale8.
The truth of it doesn’t matter at all. If it bleeds, it ledes.
They’ll publicly crucify you for the crimes of others, or the crimes of a system. Here’s @voxdotcom
And if you dare protest - if you push back with even a hint of frustration as you see your good name dragged through the mud - you’ll have that used as a mark against you, too. Here we have @JohnBrennan, @MSNBC, @MalcolmNance and @lithub.
Really hard to overstate how frequent this line of criticism was.
I wonder if @NAACP, @NickKristof, @JoyAnnReid or @peterdaou could envision why someone would be angry for having their character picked apart on baseless claims?
And then they’ll demand you complete yet another background check - after you’ve passed SIX of them - if you want any hope of convincing them.
Are these the people and institutions you think you can trust and count on? Are these the parties you think you can negotiate with on a new SCOTUS Justice? Are these your good faith partners?
Because I, for one, have had it. I’m not interested in another round of this bad faith insanity.
Having worked on the Hill I get the ubiquity of Politico Pro and its cost.
But I think it takes an enormous suspension of disbelief to call it a conspiracy theory to look askance at the millions of dollars the Biden admin paid the paper that ran this hatchet job on his opponent.
Which, to be clear, is exactly what outlets like @CNN are doing.
@CNN This from @axios seems particularly unreasonable.
It isn’t a “fake theory” to say that Politico is “funded by the government.” It is, to the tune of $8 million. That isn’t in dispute.
Quick 🧵 revisiting corporate media claims on the Covid lab leak theory then (a “conspiracy theory,” “misinformation,” etc.) vs. now (“okay the CIA even admits it”).
Trump’s return to the Oval Office has me reflecting on some of the worst “journalism” during his first term.
Of that long list, one in particular jumps out: the corporate press hype around the Steele dossier.
Do you *really* remember how bad it was? Follow along. ⤵️
Before I dive in, would really encourage you to read my full piece at @Holden_Court, because there’s too much to fit in a thread.
That said, surely you remember the dossier, a bunch of dramatic claims about Trump that even @nytimes now calls “discredited” open.substack.com/pub/drewholden…
But before that, there was the hype: the hero worship of Christopher Steele, the spy who was going to save American from Trump, the Russian puppet.
I mean, @washingtonpost put “hero” right in the title.
The rest of the piece is worse. WaPo repeats the claims — that the Russians had kompromat on him for engaging with prostitutes! Maybe Trump was compromised — verbatim without mentioning in the first instance that there’s no evidence these claims are true! Look at the highlights.
An unthinkable breach of journalistic ethics. There was plenty more.
Do you remember the media meltdown over Trump’s pardons? As Biden hands out decades-long passes to his family and friends, that concern is nowhere to be seen.
Biden no doubt wants you to forget this outrage in the glow of the inaugural.
Don’t. Screenshots help. ⤵️
When Trump announced pardons late in his first term, @nytimes said it “showed his willingness to use his power aggressively on behalf of loyalists” to “override courts, juries and prosecutors to apply his own standard of justice for his allies.”
When Biden did the same thing, @nytimes said he was using his “power to protect people targeted by…Trump” to “head off politically driven prosecutions.”