Hello, friends.
The dust has settled on the 2024 election, and the results are nothing short of devastating. Donald Trump is heading back to the White House, this time armed with a Republican-controlled Congress, a majority of governorships, and a fervent base that has been fed a steady diet of lies, propaganda, and disinformation. This wasn’t just an election; it was the culmination of a years-long campaign to undermine the very foundations of our democracy. And we—progressives, Democrats, and anyone who values truth—are left to grapple with the aftermath.
Let’s be clear: Trump didn’t win because of a sudden groundswell of support for his policies. He doesn’t have any. He won because of a carefully orchestrated campaign of disinformation, one that was supercharged by the world's richest and most powerful people, including Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch. As Sabrina Haake aptly points out in Salon, Musk’s takeover of Twitter—now X—and his subsequent weaponization of the platform to spread lies about Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration was a decisive factor. Right-wing media, led by Fox News, amplified those lies to an audience eager to believe them.
The result? A huge victory that feels less like a legitimate democratic process and more like a hostile takeover. Trump's campaign was never about ideas or policies—it was about creating an alternate reality, one where facts are malleable, truth is subjective, and the only thing that matters is loyalty to the man at the top. And it worked.
A Rigged Information Ecosystem
What we’re seeing is the fruition of a right-wing strategy that has been years in the making. Republicans have mastered the art of manipulating the media ecosystem to their advantage. They’ve created a parallel universe where Trump’s failures are successes, where the economy is in shambles even as it outperforms other advanced nations, and where the real threat to America isn’t white supremacy, but “the radical left.”
Elon Musk’s role in this can’t be overstated. His acquisition of Twitter wasn’t just a business deal—it was a strategic move to control the flow of information. By purging progressive voices and amplifying disinformation, Musk turned the platform into a tool for right-wing propaganda. His “town halls” in battleground states, where he gave away millions in a fake lottery to promote Trump, were nothing more than cynical and illegal attempts to buy votes and manipulate public opinion.
Meanwhile, Fox News continues to do what it does best: lie. They lied about the state of the economy, they lied about Kamala Harris, and they lied about the election itself. As Haake notes, this disinformation campaign wasn’t just about winning an election—it was about dismantling democracy itself. By convincing half the country that we’re in economic peril, despite all evidence to the contrary, Fox and Musk sowed the seeds of mistrust that led to Trump’s victory.
A Democracy in Peril
We’re now facing the very real possibility that Trump and his Republican allies will use their newfound power to rewrite the Constitution in their favor. They don’t need to shred the document to achieve their goals—they just need to reinterpret it through their right-wing lens. They’ll erode voting rights, dismantle government oversight, and push through policies that benefit the ultra-wealthy at the expense of everyone else.
With Republicans controlling every lever of government, we’ll be heading into a future where elections are nothing more than formalities. I wish I could offer a clear path forward. But the truth is, I’m as uncertain as anyone about what comes next.
Have a good day. Talk to everyone on Monday.
