Political lying has become a widespread threat in the United States and across the globe. With less than two weeks away from the presidential election, the site PolitiFact has been fact- checking American politicians left and right since 2007.
From former President Donald Trump’s outright lie that Haitian immigrants were eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, to Vice President Harris’ mostly false claim that Trump intends to cut Medicare, fact checkers in the U.S. have been working tirelessly to identify and correct misinformation.
Bill Adair, founder of Politifact, is author of the new book Beyond the Big Lie: The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How it Could Burn Down Our Democracy. Adair examines how and why politicians use their platforms to lie. He draws from candid interviews with politicians and experts on why Republicans are spreading the most lies and the dire consequences it has for our democracy.
Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance has recently said that Trump did not lose the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, which raises serious concerns about the Trump campaign’s response if he loses to Harris in November.
Political liars featured in Adair’s book range from former President Richard Nixon to the couch guests and hosts on Fox & Friends. It reveals how Republicans have repeatedly tried to influence the news media, tech companies and people in government for their benefit. It offers insight and solutions to help solve the crisis of political lying.
Guest:
Bill Adair is the Knight Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke University and the director of the Duke Reporters’ Lab. His awards include the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting (with the PolitiFact staff), the Manship Prize for New Media in Democratic Discourse, and the Everett Dirksen Award for Distinguished Coverage of Congress.
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This interview will be recorded on Thursday, October 24, 2024.
