If former President Donald Trump mastered the "art of the deal," then the wealthy buddies about to enter the White House with him have mastered the art of speaking power to truth, a Washington Post analyst argues.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk earned dark praise from Philip Bump on Thursday for convincing a swath of American people that efforts to combat dangerous misinformation represent an attack on the First Amendment.
"It has traditionally been the role of media to hold power to account by sharing truths that the powerful would prefer be kept hidden — speaking truth to power," Bump wrote. "The pattern in recent years has been inverted: speaking power to truth."
The Washington Post analyst argues Trump, Musk and Kennedy each won from the 2024 presidential election the power they sought by wrestling away from the American people a clear understanding of the truth.
Bump points to a January 2021 Twitter post in which Kennedy suggested the coronavirus vaccine had killed baseball great Hank Aaron, and which was flagged by President Joe Biden's administration as it began its battle to distribute the life-saving treatment.
"If you listen to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talk about the threat President Joe Biden poses to democracy, he will often point to the Biden administration’s efforts to censor him," Bump wrote.
"The punchline to Kennedy’s story about the danger of censorship, incidentally, is that the tweet was never taken down."
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Limits have been placed on Twitter and Facebook — but they only triggered an uproar from the far-right who echoed Kennedy's questionable complaint of censorship, Bump argued.
The far-right's campaign was ultimately successful because Trump proved to its leaders that doubling down when called out on lies can work — if you're rich, Bump said.
"Trump demonstrated that there was enormous value in simply lying about things, that you could build political and social power by shamelessly telling people what they wanted to hear," wrote Bump. "He was a salesman by training and not a particularly scrupulous one."
"You can see why this would appeal to others who wanted to sell things to Americans."
America is about to enter a disturbing chapter in its history as its leaders continue their campaign of saying whatever they need to to sell products, Bump concluded.
"[Trump] will apparently be joined in Washington by Elon Musk, a government contractor who will be assigned the task of figuring out where the government should spend its money," Bump wrote.
"He will also be joined by Kennedy, a purveyor of health misinformation who will be tasked with protecting public health. They will bring their power and do as they see fit with the truth."