When my congressman, Rep. Chris Stewart, held a town hall in Richfield in May 2017, an older woman rose to speak. She offered her credentials as an engaged citizen by declaring with absolute sincerity, “I know what’s happening in Washington. I watch Fox News every day.”
This trusting woman, like a third of American voters, gets her daily briefing from Fox News. She often sees Stewart on her preferred programs, reinforcing the untruths fostered by the network and by President Trump, amplified by our self-righteous circles of like-minded friends on social media. Intentional untruths repeated endlessly acquire the robust sheen of truth.