A Perfect Storm
As a monster storm bears down on Florida and officials issue desperate warnings about unimaginable destruction and potential loss of life, we are left to face the dire effects of a willful and deliberate attempt by malevolent figures to flood our public discourse with lies—part of a decades-long campaign of willful deceit stretching from science to democracy that jeopardizes the health, safety, and very survival of our nation.
Sadly, while Trump and his army of trolling flamethrowers have fomented shamelessness, depravity, and debasement, they are but the latest opportunists to capitalize on a longstanding effort to weaponize mendacity. This contagion was born on the fringes of the far right, but it has since metastasized to consume what was once known as the Republican Party. But none of us are insulated from its consequences.
Hurricane Milton is following on the heels of Hurricane Helene, around which the MAGA mobs compounded tragedy with their cynical falsehoods. The brazenness of Trump and his craven enablers—lying about the federal response's effectiveness, fabricating fraud claims about FEMA, falsely accusing aid of being withheld from Republican areas—is so detached from reality that even many Republican officials in the affected regions have pleaded with them to stop.
Local politicians can see firsthand that these lies aren't just reckless; they deepen divisions, misdirect resources, and worsen people's suffering by undermining an effective response to a catastrophic situation.
Good on them for calling the truth out. Hopefully, that message breaks through. I also hope the calls to evacuate in the face of Hurricane Milton have not gone unheeded. It should be noted that hurricane modeling is just the sort of science Republicans often castigate.
I fear the flood of lies that will almost assuredly follow the actual floodwaters.
We need to be very clear about how we got to this point, and it is a story that long precedes Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party. For decades, it has been a GOP mantra to deny and denigrate reality—whether it’s calling climate change a hoax, claiming Obamacare has death panels, arguing that tax cuts for the wealthy trickle down, insisting that immigrants hurt the economy, or denying gun violence as a public health crisis.
In recent years, these lies have clearly escalated. We saw it during the pandemic, with shameful attacks on public health officials and vaccines. And, of course, there's the ongoing assault on free and fair elections, from conspiracy theories about voter fraud to the overarching Big Lie—that the 2020 election was stolen.
None of this is true. And that’s precisely the point.
These lies are meant to sow confusion—a fog of malevolence. When facts become inconvenient for Republican orthodoxy, they are dismissed as partisan. In this upside-down world, expertise no longer matters. In fact, it's often branded as elitist. Any policy or action grounded in reality, and shaped by experts, is cast aside as part of a leftist plot to undermine America.
Adding fuel to this perverse narrative is the very real truth that the impact of these lies falls inordinately on those who are already marginalized and dispossessed. They are the ones that must constantly confront systemic injustices and inequities around health and income disparities, education, housing, and prejudices that those with privilege and power use to bolster their perfidy.
When disasters strike, lower-income and minority populations are more likely to be trapped and face long-term dislocation and financial hardship. Programs that benefit these people are also the ones Republicans are routinely most eager to cut to offset their tax cuts for the likes of Elon Musk.
As I watch in horror as Hurricane Milton’s massive reach and strength are fueled by the unprecedentedly warm waters in the Gulf of Mexico, I feel deep anger at the legions of liars who have echoed the Republican playbook of denying the climate crisis. By equating unchecked carbon emissions with patriotism, they have helped wreak untold damage for generations to come.
But the danger is already here. Humans will need resilience and adaptation. A house divided will not stand. And neither will one built on a foundation of lies.
The fact that Trump, Vance and their minions continue to repeat lies they know can be harmful shows they don't care what happens to others as long as it works toward their goal to get power. Their total disregard for the damage they are doing to thousands of Americans means nothing to them, and obviously the majority of the GOP. Despite FEMA, Republican Governors and Senators, and governmental officials asking them to stop it seems to fuel their ego and they double down. This is not the type of people we want running our country.
Thanks for your courage Elliot. As a Canadian who follows American politics closely because it affects the world, I am confounded by the fact that such commentary as yours does not appear in mainstream media. Instead, we get articles discussing what Kamala Harris could’ve done better on 60 minutes or commentary that Americans don’t know what she stands for. Thanks again for your courage.