US President Joe Biden appeared before the country on Wednesday, just days before the crucial midterm elections, at Union Station in Washington and issued a dire warning.
“As I stand here today, there are candidates running for every level of office in America — for governor, for Congress, for attorney general, secretary of state — who will not commit, will not commit to accepting the election results in the ones that are competing,” Biden said. “This is the path to chaos in America. It is unprecedented. It is illegal and un-American.”
This line of speech by him—which was televised on cable news, but scorned by most-watched broadcast networks—is not a matter of opinion. It does not include any political spin. It is a tragic and raw fact.
Only 41% of Republicans are confident that the US election reflects the will of the people, according to CNN. A staggering 66% of Republicans continue to say they don’t think Biden was the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
It is impossible to understand why so many Americans no longer trust American elections without understanding the information universe in which they reside. The bad-faith TV hosts, radio personalities, podcasters, and websites that now unquestionably dominate the right-wing media landscape have poisoned the news with lies and conspiracy theories about the electoral process.