# Can a Trump supporter explain to me how fake news works? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919 "2018-11-03T00:58:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/63 "2018-11-06T16:20:31Z")
> [@JB99](#): > > It doesn’t help that Trump is an epic dumbfuck who can barely speak in complete sentences. > > This is why politicians choose their words carefully. They speak with precision. They use qualifiers and conditional statements. They understand the importance of being unambiguous - especially when it comes to foreign policy. > > But the semi-literate retards in America hear these people talk and think it implies dishonesty. So when Trump comes along they are thrilled to have someone who just says whatever random shit pops into his head. They think it is honest and articulate because he doesn’t try to parse or qualify his statements. The fact that it’s just a bunch of goddamned gibberish doesn’t seem to faze them at all. I agree…I still cant wrap my head around people believing his nonsense, I want to ask them, “would you buy a used car from him?” It would be a bait and switch like most of what he says and does. I think the MSM media has been too soft on him, for fear of being of being called an angry mob, or enemies of the people etc. A media outlet that just speaks in facts about his presidency can end up looking like a crazy rumour site, as his bullshit is so over the top. ---
**Author:** ![EarlGrayHot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e480ec/32.png) [@EarlGrayHot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarlGrayHot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/64 "2018-11-06T16:33:25Z")
Someone like Samantha Bee uses current events to poke fun at people like Trump. It is, after all, so easy. FOX news or say, NEWSMAX, are clearly and deliberately biased and want to blame everything bad on liberals and other (any) neutral news outlets for stirring the extremists among us to become more extreme and, say, kill people. Despite the fact that mass murderers admit they were encouraged by Trump and his minions, Trump still blames everyone but the blatantly prejudiced news organizations like FOX (whose own reporters have admitted they were told what to say and how to say it). ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/65 "2018-11-06T22:14:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > An uncle shared a post claiming that people in the South American [del]invaders[/del] migrant caravan were looting and leaving garbage all over the place. Naturally, I looked for _any_ information to back up the claim. Now, whenever there are people, there will be garbage. Whenever there are a _lot_ of people, there’s a chance that a few will commit crimes. I found _nothing_ to back up the claim. I told my uncle, ‘Funny, there’s nothing in the news about it.’ > He gave the expected reply: ‘It’s not in the news because it doesn’t fit their agenda.’ > AFAICFO, Trumpistas believe **‘The proof is there _is_ no proof!’** Any facts that don’t fit their agenda are false. It’s a hallmark of religious belief that those beliefs are unfalsifiable: > [@](#): > > Unfalsifiability (also known as: untestability) > > Description: Confidently asserting that a theory or hypothesis is true or false even though the theory or hypothesis cannot possibly be contradicted by an observation or the outcome of any physical experiment, usually without strong evidence or good reasons. > Making unfalsifiable claims is a way to leave the realm of rational discourse, since unfalsifiable claims are often faith-based, and not founded on evidence and reason. [https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/178/Unfalsifiability](https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/178/Unfalsifiability) Thus we can see that the claim ‘_Trump is treated unfairly by the mainstream media_’ is a religious belief, because it is faith-based, rather than reality/fact-based. Witness your uncle’s assertion of the religious tenet ‘the proof is that there is no proof.’ > [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > … Why is it that every argument presented in this thread purporting to show anti-Trump media bias relies heavily on **misrepresenting** what the media is actually reporting? Because for the religious devotee, facts don’t matter. Only faith matters. (emphasis mine) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/66 "2018-11-07T07:15:20Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > None of those articles mention that the synagogue shooter hated Trump, that Trump has a Jewish daughter and son-in law or that anti Semitic attacks were common under previous presidents. The tone is accusatory and Trump’s critics are given the bulk of the articles. For instance the final sentence of the Vox article is Bend the Arc’s leaders disagree. “You yourself called the murderer evil, but yesterday’s violence is the direct culmination of your influence,” they wrote. Any anti-Semitic attack is too many - but they have skyrocketed under Trump. [Cite.](https://www.dw.com/en/anti-semitic-incidents-surge-in-us-report/a-42759790) A low of 751 in 2013 to 1986 last year, which was a 50% increase from the year before. Perhaps there is a reason for that. Do you think the KKK and the Nazis really think Trump is strongly against them? ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/67 "2018-11-07T18:08:14Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Any anti-Semitic attack is too many - but they have skyrocketed under Trump. > [Cite.](https://www.dw.com/en/anti-semitic-incidents-surge-in-us-report/a-42759790) > A low of 751 in 2013 to 1986 last year, which was a 50% increase from the year before. Perhaps there is a reason for that. > Do you think the KKK and the Nazis really think Trump is strongly against them? If you personally wrote the most comprehensive denunciation of KKK/Nazi/Fascism/White-nationalists and Trump wholeheartedly said in primetime while having animals defecate on their symbols, would that be denunciation enough? If the answer is NO , then it does’t matter what he does ad would advise ever to issue such a denunciation. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/68 "2018-11-07T18:13:52Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > If you personally wrote the most comprehensive denunciation of KKK/Nazi/Fascism/White-nationalists and Trump wholeheartedly said in primetime while having animals defecate on their symbols, would that be denunciation enough? After praising white supremacists and making racist claims on multiple occasions, a single statement probably wouldn’t do it entirely on its own, but it would be a giant step in the right direction. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/69 "2018-11-07T18:27:02Z")
It should be noted that “fake news” was coined by Democrats in the aftermath of the 2016 election to explain their loss, and Trump coopted it to attack the mainstream media in general. So Democrats stopped using the phrase, since it’s hard to compete with the bully pulplit. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/70 "2018-11-07T18:37:25Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It should be noted that “fake news” was coined by Democrats in the aftermath of the 2016 election to explain their loss, and Trump coopted it to attack the mainstream media in general. So Democrats stopped using the phrase, since it’s hard to compete with the bully pulplit. :dubious: Cite? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/71 "2018-11-07T18:42:43Z")
You should cite your own memory, but here’s one cite: > **[Clinton blasts ‘epidemic’ of fake news](https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/309532-clinton-blasts-epidemic-of-fake-news/)** > > “Lives are at risk,” Clinton says of fake news online. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/72 "2018-11-07T18:54:18Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You should cite your own memory, but here’s one cite: > > [https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/309532-clinton-blasts-epidemic-of-fake-news](https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/309532-clinton-blasts-epidemic-of-fake-news) I did not ask for cite of democrats using the term. I asked you to back you assertion that democrats coined the term _after_ the election, and that then Trump co-opted it. If I can find one cite of Trump saying “fake news” before the election then that annihilates your premise here. Here’s a quick [cite](http://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/c.php?g=460840&p=5330649) that I found in a few seconds. > [@](#): > > The “fake news” term, popularised by the US President Donald Trump, is so prevalent now that it is hard to believe that just a few years ago the term was barely used. Now, this is a bit harder to parse. Donny’s a liar, and I don’t believe much of what he says, but he claims that you are wrong, [as he claims that it was he that invented the phrase.](https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2017/10/09/donald-trump-fake-news/) > [@](#): > > I think one of the greatest of all terms I’ve come up with is ‘fake’,” Mr Trump said. “I guess other people have used it perhaps over the years, but I’ve never noticed it.” > … > The term “fake news” became mainstream during the US election campaign, when hundreds of websites that published falsified or heavily biased stories sprung up to capitalise on Facebook advertising revenue. > > Mr Trump and his supporters then adopted the term to describe media coverage critical of the President, especially that of The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN. Did you want to cite the part where it was “coined by Democrats in the aftermath of the 2016 election to explain their loss” now? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/73 "2018-11-07T18:58:49Z")
Maybe it wasn’t coined by them, but I recall hearing the term for the first time used as systematic messaging by the Democrats, from Clinton to the Daily Show to Nancy Pelosi. And then it just stopped once Trump turned it around on them. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919/74 "2018-11-07T19:06:21Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Maybe it wasn’t coined by them, but I recall hearing the term for the first time used as systematic messaging by the Democrats, from Clinton to the Daily Show to Nancy Pelosi. And then it just stopped once Trump turned it around on them. That’s what you get for using your memory as a cite, rather than an actual cite. Your assertion was that democrats coined the term to explain their 2016 loss. To the point that you made a post specifically for the purposes of “noting” that fact. Was there any validity to that statement whatsoever, more than where _you_ first recall hearing the term? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-trump-supporter-explain-to-me-how-fake-news-works/823919.md?page=3)