Joy Reid reidout

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Trump pushed replacement theory during the debate. Mainstream media fact checks sanitized it.

Published 09/11/24

As presidential nominees Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debated, Trump claimed that “illegal immigrants” are “coming in” while Democrats are “trying to get them to vote.”

While some news outlets fact-checked the remark, The New York Times tepidly noted just that the conspiracy theory “lacks evidence,” and the Times and other outlets failed to highlight the extreme origins of the lie that Democrats are trying to replace white people with politically supportive nonwhite immigrants, otherwise known as the “great replacement” conspiracy theory.

The failure to highlight this context is another instance of the media “sanewashing” Trump’s remarks.

## Trump pushed replacement theory during the presidential debate

- During the presidential debate Donald Trump claimed, “A lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they’re trying to get them to vote.” Trump made the remark in response to a question about whether he lost the 2020 election. ABC, [9/10/24]

- Claiming immigrants are being imported into America in order to vote in elections is a part of the white nationalist conspiracy theory known as the “great replacement.” The theory alleges that nonwhite immigrants are “replacing” the votes of white Americans in order to undermine white interests, and that Democrats are supporting this effort. Media Matters, [3/4/24]

## Mainstream media failed to link Trump’s comments to the far-right conspiracy theory

- The New York Times claimed Trump’s response “lacks evidence” and failed to mention his comment was an offshoot of “great replacement” beliefs, even though the paper has previously reported on the conspiracy theory.Instead, the Times focused only on the lie about noncitizen voting, writing, “In recent months, Trump and other Republicans have frequently made the false claim that there’s a major crisis of noncitizens illegally voting in federal elections.” The Times had previously thoroughly reported on great replacement theory, and in particular former Fox host and Trump ally Tucker Carlson’s role in “stok[ing] white fear” and mainstreaming what the paper called a “racist conspiracy theory.” The New York Times, [9/10/24, 4/30/22]

- Other outlets also succeeded in calling out Trump’s lie about noncitizen voting but failed to highlight its link to replacement theory. NPR, The Washington Post, NBC News, and MSNBC all highlighted the slim likelihood of migrants voting in the election, but stopped short of highlighting the claim’s racist origins. NPR, [9/11/24; The Washington Post, 9/11/24, 9/11/24; NBC News, 9/10/24; MSNBC, 9/11/24]

- Some in mainstream media ignored the response altogether and did not mention it in their online fact checks. ABC News, CBS News, and CNN ignored the former president’s remarks on migrants voting. ABC News, [9/11/24; CBS News, 9/11/24; CNN, 9/11/24]

## This failure follows a broader trend of mainstream media “sanewashing” Trump’s comments

- The New Republic argued that mainstream media have been sanitizing Trump’s comments by simplifying and laundering them to seem like more mainstream political statements.Parker Molloy (who previously worked at Media Matters) highlighted several instances of sanewashing, including CNN simplifying a Trump social media rant and The New York Times ignoring Trump’s comment supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s misinformation on autism and failing to report on Trump’s spread of anti-trans conspiracy theories. The New Republic, [9/4/24]

- Columbia Journalism Review’s Jon Allsop called the premise of sanewashing “persuasive” in his piece, titled “Is the press ‘sanewashing’ Trump?”Allsop also noted mainstream media are also downplaying Trump’s more violent and extreme comments on immigrant gangs and election misinformation: “If sanewashing the incoherent things Trump says is a problem, then so is failing to proportionately cover his all-too-coherent threats.” Columbia Journalism Review, [9/9/24]

- Many mainstream media outlets recently sanewashed a speech Trump made to The Economic Club of New York, failing to inform audiences about his incoherent response to a question about child care policy. Media Matters, [9/10/24]

- On MSNBC, Joy Reid highlighted the sanewashing impulses of the mainstream media, warning that Trump’s and Harris’s debate performances would be held to different standards. Reid: “His answers are sure to be sane-washed by much of the media immediately after the debate and in the days to come to ensure that he continues to be taken seriously by American voters.” MSNBC,*The Reid Out*, [9/9/24]

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alternet-3 24 no lnx

Why the RNC’s latest 'B-level' hire is 'good news for Democrats': analysis

Scott Presler at the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference in Palm Beach, Florida (Gage Skidmore)

Alex Henderson

March 19, 2024

On Thursday, March 14, Lara Trump — the Republican National Committee's new co-chair and Donald Trump's daughter-in-law — announced that the RNC was hiring MAGA Republican Scott Presler to lead its voter turnout efforts.

Presler, a far-right conspiracy theorist known for promoting QAnon posts on social media, has aggressively promoted Donald Trump's false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. And Presler has praised the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol Building as the "largest civil rights protest in American history."

In a ReidOut Blog opinion column published on March 18, MSNBC's Ja'han Jones argues that Lara Trump's decision to hire Presler is "good news for Democrats" because "it's a sign that the RNC is increasingly staffing up with a team of B-level or worse staffers who are more focused on spouting conspiracy theories and getting internet clout than actually doing the grueling, substantive work of winning an election."

READ MORE:'Not playing games': Lara Trump warns Republicans to support father-in-law’s campaign — or else

"Presler is known more for political stunts than substantive election victories," Jones observes. "He's made a habit of visiting various states to assist with highly public campaigns that, in many cases, don't end up going in Republicans' favor. Ahead of a crucial election in February that could have flipped Pennsylvania's state house to Republicans, he visited and attempted to mobilize voters for a candidate who ultimately went on to lose."

Jones adds, "Philly GOPers were pretty demoralized after that loss. And in a similarly high-stakes campaign last year, Presler threw his support behind failed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly. He's also a staunch backer of Arizona gubernatorial election-loser Kari Lake."

Since taking over the RNC, Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump have made a concerted effort to give the RNC a top-to-bottom MAGA makeover. Countless RNC staffers are being fired, and Lara Trump has stressed that the RNC's #1 priority in 2024 is helping her uncle defeat President Joe Biden in November.

But some traditional conservatives have been highly critical of the RNC's new direction, including former RNC Chairman and ex-Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. A Never Trumper and MSNBC host who is rooting for Biden, Steele has warned fellow conservatives that the RNC's heavy emphasis on Trump's presidential campaign will cause GOP candidates in down-ballot races to suffer in November.

READ MORE: 'No point donating now': Lifelong Republicans revolt after Lara Trump elected RNC co-chair

Jones stresses that if the RNC's new leadership continues to hire conspiracy theorists like Presler, Democrats will be the ones who ultimately benefit.

"Presler being given a high-profile position in the RNC would be the latest sign that Turning Point USA and its affiliates are in total control of the Trump-branded Republican Party," Jones writes. "And while that may serve each of them quite well personally, evidence suggests it's bound to hurt the GOP's electoral chances come November."

READ MORE: Lara Trump: GOP voters will 'absolutely' pony up to pay ex-president’s legal bills

Ja'han Jones' full MSNBC column is available at this link.

an 2 24 no lnx

Tuesday's episode of MSNBC's The ReidOut, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson spoke with host Joy Reid Tuesday about one of the most "frightening" aspects of a potential second Donald Trump administration.

Reid pointed to a Tuesday Politico report highlighting the fact that Russell Vought, former Trump director of the Office of Management and Budget is spearheading the potential administration's efforts to inject Christian nationalist ideals into the US government.

The MSNBC host emphasized that during a second Trump term, the United States government could eventually mirror Argentina's government — which has become an "the ultra-capitalist state" under its president — if the MAGA hopeful is successful in implementing a Christian nationalist state.

READ MORE: 'Handmaid’s Tale': Biden campaign blasts Trump Christian nationalism plans

"We don't want to do that. We really don't want to do that," Robinson replied. "I lived in Argentina. I love Argentina, the people and everything, but we don't want to follow their terms of government and how they raise their government. Vought wants to give Christian nationalism an image makeover and make it a bright and sunny and good thing. The Constitution — it doesn't really say separation of church and state, according to him. That piece — the Politico piece — about his plans is really frightening."

The longtime Post columnist emphasized, "One of the most frightening things is his apparent plans to bring back one of Trump's worst appointees, Michael Flynn, who pops up in that story later on. And he's become a christian nationalist nut. I guess he always was or has been for a long time. I'll tell you, this is extreme and it is — it's not irreversible, but this is really terrible for the country. And the Republican party is fine with this, and it's not only allowing it, but aiding and abetting it, and pushing it forward in a very deliberate way."

Watch the video below or at this link.