Because apparently it’s necessary, let’s start out this blog post with some basic public health guidance: Don’t drink bleach, even during a pandemic.
If there were ever a perfect example of why we need to fight back against Trump’s lies, that was it. Trump lied. People died.
Unless you haven’t read the news in a week, you know what we’re talking about: Trump’s handling of the pandemic sunk to a new level when he suggested that a good way to combat the coronavirus would be for people to inject themselves with disinfectants. (Again, to be 100% clear, you absolutely should not do this.)
After widespread reporting on those words led to widespread blowback and criticism, Trump fell back onto his long-standing communications strategy:
Now, he’s banking on us forgetting that the President of the United States told us to inject disinfectants into our bodies. He wants us to move on to the next news cycle and leave the Lysol references behind.
And he has good reason to believe in that strategy — it’s worked for his entire presidency.
Starting today, Defeat Disinfo is going to put an end to that game — but only with your help. Using sophisticated data-tracking tools, we’re spotting Trump’s lies before they go viral and amplifying the most powerful truthful narratives. We’re going to hold Trump accountable by calling out his lies and sharing the truth.
Why this lie and why right now?
We crunched the numbers and the story they tell is clear: People are angry at Trump for telling a lie so dangerous that it’s led to huge spikes in calls to poison control hotlines across the country about drinking, injecting, or gargling bleach.
That means the best way for us to lower Trump’s reelection chances right now is to keep hitting him on his insane comments about bleach.
Easy, right?
It’s simple, but this is exactly how we hit Trump where it hurts. We call him out on every damn lie.
By the logic that he’s imposed on us, this little lie about drinking bleach and whether or not he even said it is no big deal because within a few days he’ll have distracted us with another big lie. And then the cycle will repeat.
But here’s the thing: If we keep playing Trump’s game by the rules he sets, we’ll keep losing.
And we’re not just talking about losing the election. People are dying. And not just because of this one lie. Trump repeatedly downplayed the risks of this pandemic, exaggerated the availability of tests, and promoted unproven and often dangerous treatments.
Trump’s lies are no laughing matter and we can’t let them slide any longer. Join the Defeat Disinfo team now to receive weekly emails about the most dangerous lies circulating on social media and how you can take action to fight back.