Conspiracies about the origins of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and the deep web of state actors that are pushing a nefarious agenda, continue to spread online, and have even been dissemenated from voices inside the White House. An article recently published in "The Atlantic" proclaims "conspiracy theorists are winning," and that America is losing touch with reality.
Chuck Todd, political director for NBC News, told Boston Public Radio on Thursday the conspiracy theorists are a marginal group of people who have been given platforms that make them appear mainstream.
"What's furstrating is it really just is a minority of people, but it's a loud minority and an influential minority, in that it's high performing on social media, high performing on Fox," said Todd. "So the elected officials, Republican officials I think, think it's mainstream. And it's not as mainstream as it seems, but I fear that Fox in particular, and basically Facebook and Twitter, have helped mainstream these conspiracies."
Dr. Rick Bright testified in congress Thursday that he was forced out of his position for pushing back against a program that would have made the drug hydroxychloroquine more readily available as a treatment for COVID-19, despite it not having gone through rigorous vetting for that use.
Todd said "mainstream media" struggles with covering the Trump administration's actions, and sometimes does not know what to make of his claims.
"Is the president mainstream (even though he espouses conspiracy theories?)" he asked. "I think one of the mistakes we've made in mainstream media is at times we're not sure what to make of Trump. Is he an outside agitator, basically an Alex Jones accidentally getting elected president, and treat him that way? Or is he the president of the United States and as long as he's been elected, the voters mainstreamed him. And we've been vascilating between whether to cover him as Alex Jones or as Harry Truman."
