Donald Trump's biggest lie is about the election itself. Here's what I said on @ReliableSources https://t.co/Wt2dlOdczw
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 16, 2016
On Sunday, CNN’s Brian Stelter urged journalists to cover Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the election might be “rigged” with the skepticism they deserve. Asserting that reporters may over time ignore the Republican presidential nominee’s refrain that election results cannot be trusted. “Donald Trump’s biggest lie is about the election itself, the integrity of the election,” Stelter said. “Trump has been planting seeds for over a year, warning supporters not to trust the government, the polls, or the media because it’s all rigged, he says.” He continued with a warning for the media:
“The first couple times that he said this, it was news. It was very disturbing news. It got a lot of attention. But over time, the repetition, Trump’s lies about election rigging, have become a form of background noise, more of the same. And this is a propaganda technique, whether Trump knows it or not. If you say something often enough, if you plant enough seeds, people start to wonder, will my vote matter? Will it actually count?
“We as a country cannot allow ourselves to become numb to this. We as a media cannot shrug it off as old news. Because the real danger here is that when Trump lies to his supporters about the others who are trying to steal the election, some of his supporters believe him.”
Stelter reminded his audience that Sean Hannity gracefully accepted President Obama’s re-election in 2012, playing a clip of the Fox News Host forlornly reporting on the American people’s decision. “Let’s remember that sound bite. Will Hannity accept the result if Clinton prevails three weeks from now?” Stelter asked. “Will he?”
(Via Media Matters)
