--- title: Defending the Truth in a Second Trump Term description: Barbara McQuade examines what Trump’s election and second term mean for misinformation. canonical: https://time.com/7173492/second-trump-term-misinformation-essay/ author: Barbara McQuade article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-06T18:35:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:05:39.030Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Defending the Truth in a Second Trump Term og:description: Barbara McQuade examines what Trump’s election and second term mean for misinformation. og:url: https://time.com/7173492/second-trump-term-misinformation-essay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24d8af2e9304c375/698a9c00db29873ea9272c4f/watch-parties-trump-election-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: watch-parties-trump-election-2024 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Defending the Truth in a Second Trump Term twitter:description: Barbara McQuade examines what Trump’s election and second term mean for misinformation. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24d8af2e9304c375/698a9c00db29873ea9272c4f/watch-parties-trump-election-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # Defending the Truth in a Second Trump Term > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: Trump Declares Election Victory in Speech to Supporters [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Declares Election Victory in Speech to Supporters](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yb0xE9vU.m3u8) (3:51)  _Published 2024-11-06. Republican former President Donald Trump claimed victory in his race against Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House._ Nov 6, 2024 6:35 PM UTC by [Barbara McQuade](https://time.com/author/barbara-mcquade/) ## Barbara McQuade Nov 6, 2024 6:35 PM UTC Following the 2024 U.S. presidential election results, it would appear that truth is on life support. For the voters who are devasted by a return of [Donald Trump](https://time.com/magazine/us/6979410/may-27th-2024-vol-203-no-17-u-s/) to the White House, the mourning includes not just an electoral loss, but also the disillusionment that his ugly and deceitful campaign tactics worked on their fellow Americans. In this moment, it is tempting to disengage from politics, and crawl under a blanket. But defending democracy—and the truth, for that matter—requires action. For months, Trump has fed the electorate disinformation to stoke fear and division in society. Trump has falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are [eating cats and dogs](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-pushes-baseless-claim-immigrants-eating-pets-rcna170537), that the Biden Administration has “[weaponized](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/29/us/politics/trump-truth-social-conspiracy-theories.html)” the Justice Department against him, and that his opponent, Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, is a ["communist” and a “Marxist."](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/sep/04/donald-trump/fact-check-trump-called-kamala-harris-a-communist/) Billionaire Elon Musk helped amplify these claims with a [$120 million](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/musk-has-now-sunk-nearly-120-million-into-effort-to-elect-trump/ar-AA1tm21U?ocid=BingNewsSerp) investment in Trump’s campaign and [removal of content moderation](https://apnews.com/article/x-musk-twitter-misinformation-ccdh-0fa4fec0f703369b93be248461e8005d) on his social media platform X, a move that enabled falsehoods to flow freely, with corrections only from other users to rebut the lies. Among the false posts was a [video](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/wrong-claims-by-musk-us-election-got-2-billion-views-x-2024-report-says-2024-11-04/) purporting to show Trump ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania, and [another](https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/04/politics/fake-georgia-voting-video-russian-disinformation/index.html) claiming to show non-citizens bragging about voting in Georgia. Posts [claiming to be from the FBI](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fbi-issues-warning-about-false-videos-impersonating-the-agency-pushing-election-disinformation) communicated false claims about threats at polling places and malfunctioning voting machines. While some Americans likely believed these false claims, others, no doubt, simply go along with the con to advance their political agenda or their own careers. Like a child who no longer believes in Santa Claus, best to pretend and keep the gifts coming. **_Read More:_** [_How Trump Won_](https://time.com/7172052/how-donald-trump-won-2024/) The real danger when a leader traffics in half-truths and conflicting claims is that people don’t know what to believe. Political scientist [Thomas Rid](https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in-intelligence/volume-64-no-1/active-measures-the-secret-history-of-disinformation-and-political-warfare/) writes in his book on information warfare, _Active Measures,_ that the goal of disinformation is “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 case, however, the adversary is us. In 2021, former Trump adviser [Steve Bannon](https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/16/media/steve-bannon-reliable-sources/index.html) put it more bluntly when he explained that their messaging strategy to the media was to “flood the zone with shit.” [Peter Pomerantsev](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/03/is-trumps-chaos-a-move-from-the-kremlins-playbook), a researcher who studies media in Putin’s Russia, calls the result of this tactic “the fog of unknowability.” By creating chaos and confusion, people become skeptical of everything, and believe in nothing. 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.” As a result, the natural response to a cascade of lies is to become cynical and to disengage from politics altogether. **_Read More:_**[_How Autocrats Weaponize Chaos_](https://time.com/6985760/autocrats-weaponize-chaos-essay/) But now is not the time to cede our power as a democracy. In the first Trump Administration, the president was checked by aides who upheld democratic norms and the possibility of criminal prosecution. This time around, we can expect Trump to appoint loyalists over experts, who won’t just fail to push back against his worst instincts, but will enable them. Trump is also liberated from any concerns about criminal prosecution for his conduct while in office. The Supreme Court’s July decision, giving a president [immunity from criminal prosecution](https://time.com/6994361/supreme-court-immunity-donald-trump-criminal-cases/) for official acts, means that Trump will be unencumbered by any special counsel investigations, as he was during his first term. He has promised to [fire special counsel Jack Smith](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-fire-jack-smith-two-seconds-elected-rcna177025) in “two seconds.” He will no doubt order 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 and free](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-vows-free-jan-6-defendants-one-first-acts-elected-rcna142894) the criminal defendants who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and used brute force to disrupt the peaceful transfer of presidential power. All of this would count as official conduct, which leaves him untouchable from prosecutors. We are already seeing powerful people shrink from speaking truth to power. The billionaires who own [_Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/10/25/washington-post-endorsement-president/) and [_Los Angeles Times_](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-10-25/latimes-no-presidential-endorsement-decison-resignations), perhaps fearing the consequences of a president who promises to seek revenge from his enemies, declined to endorse a candidate in this election. Some members of the Republican Party have been doing for this for years now— appeasing Trump rather than challenging him, lest they lose their seats in office like Liz Cheney, who was voted out for standing up to Trump during the congressional hearings on the Jan. 6 attack. But history will not look kindly upon them. Many people who love America have worked hard on the recent campaign only to see their hopes crushed. For us to give up now would be to pull the plug on truth, which would lead to a death spiral for democracy. ## Transcript Be an American wearing these stands. And I won't forget the men who Thank you very much, Wow. Well, I want to thank you all very much. This is great. These are our friends. We have thousands of friends on this incredible movement. This was a movement like nobody's ever seen before. And frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. There's never been anything like this in this country and maybe beyond. And now it's going to reach a new level of importance because we're going to help our country heal. We're gonna help our country heal. We have a country that needs help, and it needs help very badly. We're gonna fix our borders. We're gonna fix everything about our country. And we made history for a reason tonight, and the reason is going to be just that. We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible, and it is now clear that we've achieved the most incredible political thing. Look what happened. Is this crazy? So want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th President. And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family, and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you. And with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe, and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. This will truly be the Golden Age of America. That's what we have to. This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again. We also have won the popular vote. That was great. Oh. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Winning the popular vote was very nice, very nice. I will tell you. It's a great feeling of love. We have a great feeling of love in this very large room. With unbelievable people standing by my side, these people have been incredible. They've made the journey with me, and we're going to make you very happy. We're going to make you very proud of your vote. I hope that you're going to be looking back someday and say that was one of the truly important moments of my life when I voted for this group of people beyond the president, this group of great people. America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. We have taken back control of the Senate. 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