Kamala's misinformation strategy is, "Yes, please!"
Kamala's misinformation strategy is, "Yes, please!"
For a while now, I’ve taken issue with the whole misinformation thing. It’s not that I support misinformation, I just see no way you can regulate it without creating an infringement on free speech rights. Instead, the best way to deal with it is to use more speech to counter it.
Democrats seem to disagree with them, but I don’t expect everyone to accept every idea just because I’m sure I have the right ones.
They routinely want to take some kind of government action on misinformation.
For Vice President Kamala Harrism, though, it seems her misinformation strategy is to use it as much as possible.
The Harris campaign has been editing news headlines and descriptions within Google search ads that make it appear as if the Guardian, Reuters, CBS News and other major publishers are on her side, Axios has found.
…
What they're saying: "While we understand why an organization might wish to align itself with the Guardian's trusted brand, we need to ensure it is being used appropriately and with our permission. We'll be reaching out to Google for more information about this practice," a Guardian spokesperson said.
Spokespeople for brands such as CNN, USA Today and NPR, whose links appeared in Harris for President ads, said they were unaware their brand was being featured this way.
…
Zoom in: Since Aug. 3, nearly a dozen news companies have been used in these types of search ads from the Harris campaign, Axios found.
Examples include The Independent UK, NPR, AP, The Guardian, USA Today, PBS, CNN, CBS News, Time and others, including local outlets like North Dakota radio station WDAY Radio.
The ads include links to real articles from the news outlets, but the headlines and supporting text have been altered to read as though the articles support the Harris campaign's objectives.
For example, an ad that ran alongside an article from The Guardian shows a headline that reads "VP Harris Fights Abortion Bans - Harris Defends Repro Freedom" and then includes supporting text underneath the headline that reads, "VP Harris is a champion for reproductive freedom and will stop Trump's abortion bans."
An ad featuring a link to an NPR story reads, "Harris Will Lower Health Costs," with supporting text that says, "Kamala Harris will lower the cost of high-quality affordable health care."
In other words, they’re lying in order to convince people that the media is saying all these wonderful things about Kamala Harris in hopes that it will trick people into supporting her.
That’s blatant misinformation, and from the leader of the party that claims that disagreeing with them is misinformation all the time.
Now, politicians lie all the time in campaign ads. They misrepresent what their opponents want and misrepresent what they’re going to do. This is part of the game and we all know it.
But this is different.
This is blatantly and willfully misrepresenting what third parties have actually said in news reports in order to convince people to vote for a particular candidate. For example, one of the examples has two variations.
One says that Kamala Harris will protect democracy. The other variation says Trump will pardon January 6th participants.
Those are vastly different propositions. Those who took part in January 6th might have been out of line, but the worst offenders weren’t trying to overturn democracy. They were trying to protect it based on their understanding and beliefs about what happened.
But that’s not the narrative Kamala Harris is trying to push, and she’s willing to blatantly lie about what other people are saying.
See, the problem is that while Google may show who is paying for an ad, most people aren’t paying attention to that. They’re looking at the text for the link itself. Even if they don’t click it, they get that idea stuck in their head, particularly claiming that The Guardian or NPR is saying that Harris is all that is right with the world.
Which is funny because literally no one knows what Kamala Harris will do as president, including Kamala Harris. Hell, a lot of them don’t even care.
Unfortunately, while the media has been misrepresented in such a way it makes them look even less trustworthy than they are, they’ll do nothing to combat what Harris did. They won’t call her out or demand answers from her campaign. They won’t eviscerate her in op-eds and editorials. They won’t do anything except shrug and call it a day.
“But everyone does it.”
No, everyone does. Trump isn’t doing it.
You know, completely amoral and willing to do anything to take power Donald Trump? For all his sins, he’s not stooping to this level, so no, not everyone is doing it.
And those others that do, regardless of party, need to be called out as well.
We don’t need laws to prevent this kind of misinformation. We just need a media that has some balls to step up and do the right thing. You know, just to shake things up.
Tilting at Windmills is 100% reader-supported. If you enjoyed this article, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription for 15% off the first year or making a one-time donation here. You can also check out our check out our store. Your support is greatly appreciated.