When will MAGA supporters accept the fact that Donald J. Trump is a clear and present danger to the nation? MAGA followers have two choices: embrace reality or chase your conspiratorial tails “till kingdom come.”

To date, no matter what deplorable fact materializes about Trump, nothing seems to shake the MAGA faithful. Rather than turning against Trump, they defend the indefensible actions of a man who cares only for himself. When the reckoning comes, MAGA world will finally realize that following Trump wasn’t patriotic and it didn’t “Make America Great Again.”

So how do we get the MAGA crowd to reassess their beliefs if they’re not willing to entertain different perspectives? Isn’t weighing the pros and cons of a particular topic the building blocks for making an educated decision? An individual who takes into account only half of the information available is going to make a decision half as good. This is the conundrum that MAGA folk find themselves in today.

Unfortunately, most of the information they get is derived from Fox News. Fox promotes lies and false narratives in order to captivate their viewing audience while simultaneously maintaining revenue flow and high stock prices. The defamation lawsuit filed by Karen McDougal (former Playboy Bunny) against Fox’s former employee, Tucker Carlson, exposed the news organization for peddling disinformation, not news. Federal Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil wrote on Sept. 24, 2020, “As defendant notes,” he is not “stating actual facts” about topics he discusses. Despite the judge dismissing the lawsuit, the suit revealed that lying and manipulating viewers wasn’t beneath Fox News.

Buttressing McDougal’s lawsuit was the defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News. On April 18, 2023, Fox settled the lawsuit with Dominion before trial, paying out $787 million in damages. Dominion was able to prove that Fox News deliberately maligned them by spreading Trump’s “stolen election” narrative. Fox gave voice to individuals who claimed that Dominion manipulated their voting machines to favor Joe Biden. This charge was exposed in civil court for what it was, “a malicious lie.”

So why did Fox News blatantly lie to its viewers? On Nov. 3, 2020, Fox News was the first media outlet to accurately call Arizona for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. After hearing the news, the MAGA faithful (including Trump) became apoplectic. Fearing that they would lose viewership, revenue and a drop in Fox stock value, Fox News reversed course and backed the “big lie.”

Promoting the “stolen election” was a business decision by Fox, pure and simple. Fox didn’t care about the truth, just the bottom line. If lying to their viewers kept greenbacks flowing into Fox’s coffers, then Fox was going to lie.

Also, the MAGA faithful aren’t babes in the woods. They knew all about Fox News’ loathsome history. Consider the hostile work environment Fox created for its female employees. For years a culture of sexual harassment with a “casting couch” promotional system existed at Fox. Two of the main culprits of this abomination were Roger Ailes (Fox News chairman) and Bill O’Reilly (top Fox anchor).

Six women (including Gretchen Carlson and Megyn Kelly) accused Ailes of sexual harassment and abuse. Millions of dollars in settlements were handed out. Once these revelations became public, Ailes was forced to resign in July 2016, but not before Fox rewarded him with a $40 million severance package.

O’Reilly was accused by six women of sexual harassment dating back to 2002. Fox attempted to bury these sexual harassment settlements but they eventually surfaced. The first wave of sexual harassment claims (five women) resulted in $13 million in damages paid out. A sixth victim was awarded $32 million in damages in July 2017. Despite O’Reilly’s serial sexual harassment, he was rewarded with a $100 million, four-year contract extension in February 2017. Public outrage forced Fox News to dump O’Reilly in April 2017.

Fox News and Donald Trump are both cut from the same cloth. They are unrepentant liars and sexual transgressors. Money and power matters and damn everything else. Fox allowed powerful men to prey on female subordinates and Trump thought sexual assault by grabbing a woman was OK.

Jesus of Nazareth said this about truth: “Everyone who practices evil hates the light; he does not come near it for fear his deeds will be exposed. But he who acts in truth comes into the light, to make clear that his deeds are done in God.” Time for MAGA to step into the light.

Paul Guimond lives in Royalston.

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