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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Paul Pelosi attack video shows that the right's conspiracy theory machine is out of control
https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/paul-pelosi-attack-video-shows-rights-conspiracy-theory-machine-out-controlVideo released Friday of the harrowing home invasion and assault that nearly killed then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosis husband in October brought little in the way of self-reflection or regret from far-right Internet trolls and Fox News stars who spent months baselessly insisting that the attack had actually resulted from a gay tryst gone wrong. Instead, the denizens of the right-wing conspiracy theory ecosystem either claimed that the new evidence proved that they were right all along, or used it to float additional conspiracy theories about why it hadnt been released earlier.
The key facts were available within hours of the October 28, 2022, attack. Law enforcement swiftly alleged that David DePape broke into the Democratic leaders home in the middle of the night seeking to harm her and pummeled her 82-year-old husband Paul, sending him to the hospital for emergency surgery. Journalists who reviewed DePapes Internet history subsequently revealed that he had been radicalized online and espoused a wide array of right-wing conspiracy theories, including QAnon.
This narrative of a right-wing extremist who believed the conspiracy theories one sees on Fox beating up an old man while looking for his wife was very unflattering to Republicans. So the rights extensive, well-funded media apparatus seized on the sorts of minor inconsistencies and trivialities that often characterize breaking news stories, and developed their alternative narrative: DePape was Paul Pelosis leftist gay lover and the assault was a tryst gone bad that Democrats, journalists, and law enforcement were now covering up to protect Nancy Pelosi and help the Democrats in the midterm elections.
Within days, this homophobic absurdity spread through right-wing fever swamps, was amplified by Twitter owner Elon Musk, and went up the food chain to outlets like OAN and Fox. Nothing seemed to give pause to the conspiracy theorists over the following weeks, including the federal complaint which stated that police witnessed DePape striking Pelosi in the head with a hammer and that he subsequently told an investigator that he had broken into the home as part of a plan to hold Nancy hostage, and reports from within the courtroom that police body camera footage showed the attack.
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The Paul Pelosi attack video shows that the right's conspiracy theory machine is out of control (Original Post)
Nevilledog
Jan 2023
OP
JohnSJ
(92,217 posts)1. f**k fox news. propaganda, lies, and misinformation. That they are even designated as a "news
outlet", and that other in the MSM follow their lead, is a disgrace to journalism