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Democrats and Republicans live in different worlds. One is incurably diseased [1]
['Daily Kos Staff']
Date: 2023-07-28
The pervasive use of deepfakes to spread disinformation is widely deemed one of the fastest-growing threats in politics. But what if the followers of one of America's two major political parties are already so far gone that deepfakes aren't needed? What if deepfakes are practically unrelatable to the alternate reality already suffusing these voters?
Several right-wing videos released over the past few weeks suggest that's exactly where we are as a country. These videos may not be the only (or even best) examples. They are simply the ones that managed to reach me from flat-earther world.
The first is a pro-Donald Trump ad that went viral after it was tweeted out by Republican political strategist Frank Luntz, who called it "the most alarming political ad” he had seen this year. Luntz later deleted the tweet, though pro-Trump MAGA bots gleefully used Luntz's assertion to amplify the ad.
x This is the most alarming political ad I've seen this year.
I encourage you to give me your reaction.
🔗 Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz)
McCarthy's roommate doesn't like this new Trump ad.
🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/8yAH8V60gs — vanhoa (@vanhoa2272) July 26, 2023
These are the basics: It's a string of QAnon conspiracy theories set to a techno beat. The video narrator starts, "If I was the deep state and I wanted to destroy America, I would rig the election with a puppet candidate." Cue video of Joe Biden. Other topics include mail-in ballots, voting machines, “false flag” operations, corrupt district attorneys, Trump as victim, pedophilia, and more.
The other two videos came out of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign, though the campaign sought to hide its involvement by first tweeting them out through dummy accounts. Both were swipes at Trump, one through an anti-LGBTQ+ lens:
x I wonder if Tapper asked DeSantis about this American Psycho anti-gay ad. pic.twitter.com/HSV88CHTOx — Oliver Darko (@oliver_drk) July 18, 2023
The second video highlighted Trump's failures while literally featuring Nazi imagery.
x The @desantiscams account just deleted this video after at least one campaign staffer RT'd it. I wonder if this was also made in-house. pic.twitter.com/JA1D9qqONF — Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) July 23, 2023
Daily Kos reported on both rather extensively, but it's worth reposting them here to get a feel for the sickness that has infected MAGA culture. Remember that DeSantis, in particular, is making a play to peel MAGA voters away from Trump.
The DeSantis videos were “American Psycho”-level bonkers and clearly targeted to appeal to the darkest Nazi 4chan incel audiences on the internet, who are apparently also staple Trump supporters.
The pro-Trump video is easier to digest and designed to appeal to a broader audience that is nonetheless swayed by a significant portion of “deep state” conspiracy theories. Frankly, it seems more insidiously clever than DeSantis' naked appeal to Nazis.
But then again, who knows? These worlds are not our world, even as they threaten to strangle reality as we know it.
All three ads exemplify how far gone the MAGA base is and, to be honest, what a long shot it still is that Republicans will nominate anyone other than Trump—or maybe even the Trump-lite Florida governor. Despite what a loser candidate DeSantis is, he's still more in sync with the Republican Party’s MAGA base than anyone else in the field besides Trump.
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