The Fight for Truth in a Second Trump Presidency
The results of the 2024 U.S. presidential election suggest that truth is in a precarious state.
For those disheartened by Trump’s return to the White House, the disappointment extends beyond an electoral loss. It reflects the disillusionment that his deceitful and divisive campaign strategies resonated with a significant portion of the electorate. In this moment, it’s tempting to withdraw from politics and retreat from the public sphere.
However, safeguarding democracy—and upholding truth—demands active engagement.
For months, Trump has disseminated misinformation to sow fear and division. He has falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are engaging in voter fraud, that the Biden Administration has “weaponized” the Justice Department against him, and that his opponent, Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, is a radical socialist.
Billionaire Elon Musk has aided in amplifying these claims through a significant investment in Trump’s campaign and by promoting them on his social media platform X. This has enabled falsehoods to spread unchecked, with corrections only coming from users who challenge these lies. Among these false posts was a video purporting to show Trump ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania, and another claiming to show non-citizens boasting about voting in Georgia. Posts also spread false claims about threats at polling places and malfunctioning voting machines.
While some Americans may have believed these false claims, others, undoubtedly, went along with the deception to advance their political agendas or personal careers. Like a child who no longer believes in Santa Claus, it may be advantageous to feign belief and continue receiving the benefits.
The genuine danger when a leader peddles half-truths and conflicting narratives is that people lose trust in information altogether. Political scientist, writes in his book on information warfare, Active Measures, that disinformation aims to “exacerbate existing tensions and contradictions within the adversary’s body politic, by leveraging facts, fakes, and ideally, a disorienting mix of both.” In this instance, however, the adversary is us. In 2021, former Trump adviser stated more bluntly that their messaging strategy to the media was to “flood the zone with shit.” , a researcher who studies media in Putin’s Russia, calls the outcome of this tactic “the fog of unknowability.”
By creating chaos and confusion, people become skeptical of everything and lose faith in anything. According to Pomerantsev, “The overall sense that you have when you watch it is that you live in a world that is frightening that you don’t really understand. But you can’t ever change anything.” Consequently, the natural reaction to a deluge of lies is to become cynical and disengage from politics entirely.
However, now is not the time to surrender our democratic power. During Trump’s first term, he was restrained by aides who upheld democratic norms and the possibility of criminal prosecution. This time, we can expect Trump to prioritize loyalists over experts, who will not only fail to challenge his worst impulses but actively enable them.
Trump is also unburdened by any concerns about criminal prosecution for his actions while in office. The Supreme Court’s July decision, granting a president immunity for official acts, means that Trump will be immune from any special counsel investigations, as he was during his first term. He has promised to pardon his supporters in “two seconds.” He will likely instruct his attorney general to dismiss the indictment in the Jan. 6 election interference case and dismiss the appeal in the government documents case. Trump has also indicated that he will pardon the individuals who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and used force to disrupt the peaceful transfer of presidential power. All of this would be considered official conduct, rendering him immune from prosecution.
We are already observing powerful individuals shying away from speaking truth to power. The billionaires who own and , perhaps fearing the repercussions of a president who vows to seek revenge on his adversaries, chose not to endorse a candidate in this election. Some members of the Republican Party have been following this pattern for years now— appeasing Trump rather than challenging him, for fear of losing their seats in office like Liz Cheney, who was ousted for standing up to Trump during the congressional hearings on the Jan. 6 attack.
But history will not judge them favorably.
Many Americans who cherish their country have dedicated themselves to the recent campaign, only to see their hopes dashed. To give up now would be to extinguish the flame of truth, leading to a catastrophic decline for democracy.