The U.S. will mark the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection on Saturday, a milestone that will confer upon the reality-dwelling citizenry a grim reminder of the potency of propaganda and how quickly it can warp perception when introduced into the public square.

Just three years ago, most of the country watched with dismay and horror as a violent MAGA mob beat back authorities and stormed the country’s citadel of democracy. The Donald Trump-incited crush of disillusioned rioters, fueled by a stream of fantastical lies, believed that the 2020 election had been stolen by sinister forces working to undermine the democratic election.

Of course, not only was their belief flatly incorrect, but evidence later emerged indicating that it was Trump who, in fact, had tried to subvert democracy.

Facts, however, have little bearing on the sentiment inside the Republican Party, which has been fed a steady diet of lies and half-truths by Fox News and the rest of the sprawling right-wing media machine. To wit, the false notion that Joe Biden nefariously stole the 2020 election is now widely shared inside the GOP. A CNN poll conducted over the summer found that nearly 70% of Republicans believe Biden’s win was not legitimate, a number that has continued to tick up.

        • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          10 months ago

          They have Civil War re-enactments in the confederate states. They also fly the confederate flag and say since it was just a battle flag and not the actual confederate flag it isn’t anti American. Refusing to acknowledge that it was a battle flag… against the U.S.

        • S_204@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          10 months ago

          They didn’t lose. They got beat but they haven’t lost. They’ve just changed tactics and are taking the long game. Really long but starting to pay off. The ideas survived because America failed to provide the education and opportunities that prevent that type of extremism from flourishing…