Newsmax and the Big Lie
A case study in forced truth telling and both sidesism.
1. Chyrons
Donald Trump called in to Newsmax last night to be interviewed by his former employee, Corey Lewandowski. Normally this wouldn’t be worth noting, but what follows is something of a magic trick that demonstrates how, in a post-virtue society, the only defense our democracy has against totalitarian propaganda is the legal system.
So bear with me.
The main point of Trump’s interview was pre-debate stage setting. Trump told Lewandowski how he’d been preparing for this debate “for my whole life” and how, in his estimation, a candidate cannot “lock yourself in a room for two weeks, or one week, or two days, and really learn what you have to know.”
This was very much Reasonable Trump on display—subdued and responsible. Presidential, even.
But then Trump said something problematic.
I’ve been through it. I’ve been a popular president. We’ve had some great elections and some amazing number of votes. You know, nobody got more than we got.
At which point, someone in the Newsmax control room must have mashed the panic button. Because within a few minutes this chyron appeared at the bottom of the screen: