A recent poll found that two-thirds of Republicans believe the 2020 election was rigged, Donald Trump being the most prominent, all caps-obsessed conspiracy theorist of them all. Much of the former president’s falsifications come from Gateway Pundit, the “uniquely incompetent” outlet run by Jim Hoft who Media Matters dubbed the “Dumbest Man on the Internet.”
Gateway Pundit (tagline: “Where Hope Finally Made a Comeback”) was “a favorite of Trump’s as he clung to the presidency more than three years ago, aides said,” according to the Washington Post. “It has become a key amplifier of his continued fraud claims as he campaigns to return to the White House.”
In the weeks before he left office in 2021, Trump brandished printouts of Gateway Pundit articles questioning the results of the election, say former aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private White House conversations. “When he was looking for evidence, Gateway Pundit was one reliable place he knew he could go for validation, and maybe even some new ideas,” said one former aide.
A former Trump official told the Post that sourcing Gateway Pundit in a debate “means you’ve lost. You can’t use it to make an argument. You can only use it to hear what you want to hear.” A conservative radio host added that Gateway amplifies “a fringe segment of so-called conservative media that’s driven by conspiratorial clickbait to drive revenues to stay afloat.” Google demonetized the website in 2021, but the misinformation is still flowing. And it’s only going to get worse in an election year.
(Via the Washington Post)
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/donald-trump-dumbest-man-on-internet-conspiracy-theories/
