In journalism school, they teach you to doubt everything; I had a teacher who told us to question even when our mothers told us they loved us – a bit extreme, perhaps, but never too much. However, my anxiety about checking everything doesn’t come from those days at university, but from carefully reviewing Donald Trump’s speeches.
The former US president was in Arizona last week. The rally was as expected: thousands of people excited to the core by his visit, controversial and incendiary statements and one “alternative fact” after another taken out of context. Yes, it’s true, there were probably as many people as those who attended the rally of Democrat Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, in the same arena. It was a direct competition and, if we do the math, it was most likely a tie in attendance.
What worries me is not who they follow more, Trump puzzles me. It is not so much his politics, one can be for or against, and that is respected; but rather his desire to misinform, to create chaos and confusion, to minimize the work of hundreds of journalists who look closely at both parties and find his discourse more virulent than his campaign itself. Lying in such a deliberate manner is extremely dangerous.
It is well known that politicians know how to manipulate words to always stay on top, in a position of power, with leadership over their opponents and penetrated in the minds of voters. They all do it, regardless of the party. They are clever. They play with phrases, they twist the data, they find that common thread that keeps their campaigns afloat… and it is to be expected. We all know it and only a few of us accept it. This is where the most focused appeal to common sense, the one that flies out the window in every electoral cycle.
But there are some candidates who knowingly lie, challenge, invent, imagine, exalt and disguise reality to draw imaginary worlds that they conquer and save or borders that they cross in rhetoric and never with steps. Capitalism does it and socialism does it.
Trump, however, enjoys doing it. He points and declares, as if he were shooting. He insults, competes and compares. He has charisma and knows it. Many believe him and praise him. His Republican colleague Kari Lake does the same. And they applaud them, without questioning anything. They get away with it. They have little or no shame in lying; they have made it a political career. They make a path and walk it. They cross lines and erase them. Millions follow them, but not inspired, but convinced, polarized and blinded. And this too is in itself a threat to democracy.
Maritza L. Félix is a multi-award-winning freelance journalist, producer, and writer for her investigative reporting. She is the founder of Conecta Arizona, the producer of the podcast Cruzando
Líneas and co-producer and co-host of Comadres al Aire. She is a Senior Fellow at Stanford’s JSK Community Impact Program, The Carter Center, EWA, Fi2W, Listening Post Collective, Poynter, and the CUNY Journalism Leadership and Innovation Program, among others.
Twitter: @MaritzaLFelix
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maritza@conectaarizona.com