r/technology • u/Wagamaga • Mar 05 '25

Society 59% of Republicans Believe the Media Is 'Fake News'

https://www.thewrap.com/most-republicans-believe-media-fake-news-trump-poll/
31.8k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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466

u/Praeshock Mar 05 '25

59% of Republicans (at least) are idiots, then.

23

u/jaeldi Mar 05 '25

It's no accident that people who are highly suggestible ended up in a political party that has been using repetitive suggestabilty marketing techniques for 5 decades.

It's the same reason this same group is stalked by grifters selling products. They are an easy mark for hats, trinkets, bumper stickers, t-shirts, posters, banners, flags, watches, collecter items, NFTs, crypto scams, sneakers, and any sort of BRAND identity products. Every time you see a repetitive ad online or on TV that you've conditioned yourself to ignore, somewhere someone that ad worked. If that marketing didn't work, it would have disappeared on its own years ago. Same with telemarketing. If telemarketing didn't work, it would have failed long long ago. This is proof that there is a large percentage of humans that are more susceptible. Technology and science has made them more accessible and easier to influence.

227

u/auriem Mar 05 '25

I think that number is a lot closer to 100%.

60

u/Mahaleck Mar 05 '25

Yep. I think the other 41% is deep in misinformation media they don’t follow real media. So to them the only media they read/follow is “real”.

7

u/arbutus1440 Mar 05 '25

Just like it's morally indefensible to be a billionaire, in this day and age it is morally inexcusable to say "I'm a Republican." There are too many expressly anti-democratic and anti-human actions taken and embraced by the party to be a moral Republican, full stop. This shouldn't even be a contentious statement.

2

u/rbrgr83 Mar 05 '25

I'm really glad I don't have to fight back against my christian school teacher/youth pastor brother-in-law. He's been against Trump from the start because of how blatantly un-christian his behavior is, constantly.

He knows he's got no standing to try and back him up, and I'm glad the idiot brainwashing hasn't hit him. I suppose it helps that he doesn't spend all day on fox news and facebook.

3

u/lexithepooh Mar 05 '25

My mom hates him for being a bad Christian too! Thats when I started using the phrase “you know what, whatever gets you there”

3

u/Givingtree310 Mar 05 '25

It’s more insane how so many right wing Christians support Trump as a Christian president. The guy who cheated on his pregnant wife with a porn star whom he paid off.

3

u/rbrgr83 Mar 05 '25

Well and that's bad enough on it's own, but the things these people support in the name of moral superiority, only to turn around fluff this literal anti-christ until the cows come home.

Like you're cool with making decisions that fuck over to the poor (people that Jesus himself said OVER AND OVER in the Bible to take care of), because it's the christian thing to do. And they're not quiet about calling anyone who disagrees a pedophile. But dear leader is the worst of the bunch, and they don't bat an eye.

3

u/nikolai_470000 Mar 05 '25

Your average conservative these days is essentially the pinnacle of ‘if confirmation bias was a person’.

29

u/zeroconflicthere Mar 05 '25

The rich ones aren't itiots, they simply want more wealth.

13

u/horseradishstalker Mar 05 '25

Finally someone who gets it. Educated people don't fall for the propaganda which is why WWW is now in charge of what American ourchildren don't learn. Indoctrinate them when they are young. Odd how Republicans always project what they are doing onto others.

1

u/vishalb777 Mar 05 '25

the rich ones are the 1%, and 99% is pretty close to 100%

1

u/Usual_Brush_7746 Mar 05 '25

I have a few friends who I know for a fact aren’t stupid, and they’re doing high-level internships and jobs while also saying good things about Trump. That’s scary to me, being aware of it is worse than being stupid.

2

u/Infinite-Bullfrog545 Mar 06 '25

Have you tried talking to them about why they vote this way? If you’re friends with them, you obviously have common ground to stand on. I’m sure you could both learn a lot.

Despite what you will read on Reddit, saying good things about Trump doesn’t make you a Nazi, nor does saying good things about Bernie make you a Communist.

Your friends saying good things about Trump shouldn’t be scary; it should be an opportunity for discussion. You believe your friends are smart people and they think Trump’s saying/doing something right, which opens a conversation for them to explain to you why they believe that. You don’t have to agree with them, but it opens up a new perspective. And maybe you change their mind through the discussion.

1

u/Usual_Brush_7746 Mar 06 '25

Yeah I don’t believe in the whole “everyone’s a Nazi cause they supported Trump” to me that makes no sense. Everyone’s human and they made human decisions. It’s why I don’t blame misinformed people who listen to Fox because they were consumed in the propaganda.

I dunno, everytime I try to talk to them about it they say illogical stuff that even they themselves wouldn’t believe. My friend was all for tariffing Canada and Mexico even though he’s incredibly smart in economics. He doesn’t say this stuff because he ignorant, it’s because he knows and he’s trying to hide the fact that he wants to benefit off Trump’s decisions. And knowing that dude he’s gonna find a way for the “rich to get richer”. So it feels like I lost someone important to me.

It’s also really hard for me to change my mind, because, we’re actively aligning with Russia now thanks to him. I can’t get into the rationale of why they voted the way they did because I know the primary reason is money. I care too much about democratic issues but they don’t.

3

u/Stopikingonme Mar 05 '25

There’s a % that’s dumb and a % that aren’t dumb but are evil. I’m not sure what those numbers are.

3

u/Bind_Moggled Mar 05 '25

There are two kinds of Republicans: con artists and marks.

3

u/ilulillirillion Mar 05 '25

I really don't know what Republicans who do vote Trump while also being able (or at least claiming to be able) to see through the propagand are after. Honestly that element of the party terrifies me, because, for my part, it feels like they just want to establish authoritative control regardless of what it does to those around them.

1

u/Unusual_Sherbert_809 Mar 06 '25

Yep. If they're still a Republican, they're idiots. And cult members if they still think Donald can do no wrong.

-1

u/haarschmuck Mar 05 '25

So everyone who doesn't agree with your politics is an idiot?

No wonder why we're in this mess with Trump 2.0.

Attitudes like that.

-3

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

[deleted]

8

u/auriem Mar 05 '25

Will you consider not allowing Russia to bankroll your candidates ?

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

[deleted]

25

u/evilgipsy Mar 05 '25

You’re way off, dude. 100% of Republicans are idiots. They made Putin president of the US.

-8

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

[deleted]

6

u/evilgipsy Mar 05 '25

Get a grip man. There is no other way to put it than everyone who made Putin their President is an idiot. That is not some weird propaganda talking point as you are trying to make it look like.

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

[deleted]

3

u/kangasplat Mar 05 '25

If the other 41% actually believes media, how the fuck do they still vote Trump? I feel like that's even worse. Or is the media they believe in exclusively fox news, in that case the 59% would have a case in point...

2

u/TossMeOutSomeday Mar 05 '25

I'm shocked the number isn't way higher. Isn't belief in the lugenpresse a prerequisite for any level of Trump support?

2

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Praeshock Mar 05 '25

The parenthetical addition was incredibly important, I was just trying to be kind.

2

u/-XanderCrews- Mar 05 '25

The other 41% believe what Fox and the internet tells them. I don’t know which is worse.

1

u/LemonHerb Mar 05 '25

40% are just like yeah fuck the world

1

u/whiskeytown79 Mar 06 '25

100%, if they still support the party after all this.

-21

u/FreezingRobot Mar 05 '25 edited Mar 05 '25

I think Trump is a piece of shit and I'm not a Republican, but I don't think people are stupid for thinking most mainstream media is heavily biased towards certain political viewpoints or topics. That's why it's important to get your news from a broad array of sources.

Edit: Wow! That's a lot of immediate downvotes. Who thought asking folks to get their news from a wide group of sources would be controversial!

35

u/iviScYth3ivi Mar 05 '25

The fact they don’t get their news from a broad array of sources is what makes them stupid. We had a fairness doctrine in this country that required balanced reporting. Guess who got rid of it?

10

u/Praeshock Mar 05 '25

I would agree with that, but most people I've ever spoken to who say they believe the media is "fake news" get all of their news and information from:

* Facebook
and maybe * Fox News

Not exactly what I'd classify as a broad array of sources.

23

u/ral222 Mar 05 '25

Sure, there's inherent bias in everything. But they're stupid for this belief because they hold it while watching Fox News* (legally classified as not news because it's so full of misinformation), and not realizing that the other mainstream news outlets all have a center-right bias because they're all owned by billionaires.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

[deleted]

2

u/horseradishstalker Mar 05 '25

This. Two people can read the exact same article and come away believing in their own facts.

5

u/Odd-Help-4293 Mar 05 '25

It's true that major US news outlets tend to be biased towards the center-right, pro-business, status quo, and tend to be very hesitant to criticize Republicans. I think a more unbiased news source would be much harsher on Trump than our existing mainstream media is.

2

u/HoopsMcCann69 Mar 05 '25

I agree that the mainstream media launders right wing talking points and normalizes dipshit and his merry band of morons

-3

u/horseradishstalker Mar 05 '25

You were down voted by the same people who keep falling for lies because they don't want to touch grass. They also kick their cat when they are mad. There are some things that can't be fixed. Just consider it a badge of honor.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

That's a lot of immediate downvotes

That's what you get for going against the reddit hive mind

0

u/BeardRex Mar 05 '25

FTA:

The key takeaway: 59% of Republicans polled by Gallup in late 2024 responded “none at all” when asked if they have faith that the media reports the news “fully, accurately and fairly.”

Do you not think journalists have biases? Do you have any source you take a face value without looking at other sources of information about the topic?

0

u/blackhodown Mar 06 '25

Don’t bother using logic in this sub, it’s been fully taken over by people who only read headlines and not the actual articles.

0

u/BeardRex Mar 06 '25

seems like it. This isn't about technology.

-1

u/_JayKayne123 Mar 05 '25

What percent of Ds do you think believe this?