The right-wing ecosystem that created the Paul Pelosi conspiracy theory
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
www.mediamatters.org /fake-news/right-wing-ecosystem-created-paul-pelosi-conspiracy-theory
The right-wing ecosystem that created the Paul Pelosi conspiracy theory
8-11 minutes
It took roughly 48 hours for the right-wing media ecosystem to turn a story about a man who committed political violence after becoming consumed by right-wing conspiracy theories about the depravity of the left into another right-wing conspiracy theory about the depravity of the left.
On Friday morning, a man broke into the San Francisco home of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He was reportedly carrying zip ties and duct tape and, according to law enforcement, was looking for the woman who is second in line to the presidency. She was not present, but the man did find and severely beat her 82-year-old husband, Paul, with a hammer, sending him to the hospital for emergency surgery.
The assailant, who was arrested and identified by police as David DePape, had an extensive Internet footprint that suggests a standard case of online right-wing radicalization . DePape’s writings show his adherence to a wide range of conspiracy theories that are often propped up or adopted in their entirety by prominent right-wing media figures and Republican officials. President Joe Biden on Friday night condemned the impact the Republican Party’s “vitriol” has on those who may be mentally unbalanced.
But in the days since the attack, people who get their news from right-wing sources have instead been told an absurd and baseless conspiracy theory. In this telling, there was no home invasion; instead DePape is actually Paul Pelosi’s leftist gay lover, and the police, Democrats, and the press are covering up that the assault was really a lovers’ spat. The tale was quickly adopted by influential right-wing figures – including Twitter owner Elon Musk – and, if past is prologue, will be accepted by a sizable percentage of the GOP base.
The Pelosi conspiracy theory took hold so quickly thanks to the parallel media ecosystem the right constructed over decades. That ecosystem features numerous outlets that generate conspiracy theories for partisan and financial gain; food-chain mechanisms that swiftly distribute them to millions of people; an existing right-wing audience trained to demand such fantasies; minimal internal guardrails within the right-wing press to provide more credible information; and strong external barriers against contrary information from mainstream news sources.
The right’s conspiracy theorists went to work soon after news of Paul Pelosi’s assault broke. They create dubious but politically beneficial narratives by taking existing facts – particularly ones that emerge early in the life of a story, when initial reports are often wrong – mixing in falsehoods, and using wild logical jumps to put the result in a different context.
First, an investigative journalist at a local TV affiliate reported on Friday that the assailant was wearing only his underwear when police arrived. But the journalist retracted that reporting the same day, and no other outlet confirmed it.
Second, the dispatcher who received a 911 call from Paul Pelosi said that he had identified the intruder as a “friend.” But Pelosi, according to law enforcement , was making that call surreptitiously from the bathroom and speaking “in code” to the dispatcher in an attempt to avoid his suspicion.
Third, some alleged that there were no signs of forced entry at the Pelosi home, suggesting that Paul Pelosi had willingly let DePape inside. In fact, police say he forced entry through the rear door, and aerial photos and video show shattered glass around that entryway (in fact, other internet sleuths claim that the glass pattern is suspicious).
Fourth, Politico reported on Friday based on San Francisco Police Chief William Scott’s press conference that the first police officers responding on the scene “were let inside by an unknown person. They discovered DePape and Pelosi struggling for a hammer.” This generated speculation that a third individual had been present. But Scott did not actually say that, and the SFPD subsequently confirmed only two people, DePape and Paul Pelosi, were at the home when police arrived.
The right’s conspiracy theorists took those four pieces of evidence, mixed in Paul Pelosi’s May DUI charge , and concocted the narrative that hehad been the victim of a drunken gay lovers’ spat that was subsequently covered up.
By Sunday, versions of this speculation were rampant on the right. Commentators who present themselves as credible offered a version in which they were simply asking questions because the press supposedly refused to do so.
Those who lack such airs simply claimed, as Dinesh D’Douza did, that “this guy, the assailant, is either a sexual partner or a male prostitute, and this is a sexual rendezvous that went sideways.”
Eventually, the story reached Musk, a troll beloved on the right with a penchant for conspiracy theories. And on Sunday morning, he blasted it out to his 112 million Twitter followers.
After Hillary Clinton shared an article about DePape’s promotion of conspiracy theories and commented that “violence is the result” of the right spreading such lies, Musk responded, “there is a tiny possibility there might be more to the story than meets the eye.” He provided a link to a site with the headline, “The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again, And In a Dispute With a Male Prostitute Early Friday Morning."
The website, the Santa Monica Observer, had previously alleged that Clinton died in 2016 and had been replaced by a body double for her presidential debate with Donald Trump.
At the same time, the right-wing media generated nonsensical explanations for why the assailant’s Internet footprint is forged and he’s actually a leftist . They cannot accept that the assailant believed right-wing conspiracy theories without taking on responsibility, so they’ve developed an alternate explanation instead.
Roughly 72 hours after news of the assault on Paul Pelosi had broken, the conspiracy theory had been promoted by a Republican member of Congress and by Donald Trump Jr. , and “Pelosigaylover” was trending nationally on Twitter.
The conspiracy-minded ecosystem that fuels the right
The right-wing information ecosystem is built to create and propagate conspiracy theories like the latest drivel about the Pelosi attack.
On message boards and social media platforms, an army of right-wing would-be sleuths looking for political advantage or simple amusement are constantly on the hunt for raw materials that they can spin into these alternate narratives.
Hyperpartisan news sites with no journalistic standards – from local ones like the Santa Monica Observer to national players like Gateway Pundit – trawl those venues looking for stories that they can write up and monetize.
The conspiracy theories move up the right-wing media food chain, with more and more prominent influencers and outlets picking up the story and running with it, until it becomes pervasive on the right.
Sprawling conspiracy theories like 2020 election denial, QAnon, Pizzagate, and Gamergate – all of which DePape had championed – worked their way through these networks.
The right-wing audience is uniquely vulnerable to these narratives.
The right-wing press spent decades spinning out these politically convenient narratives about the diabolical nature of their perceived enemies until the audience came to demand them . Few on the right – and none with any real degree of influence – are interested in debunking the rampant lies once they get going. Instead, powerful figures at Fox News and elsewhere end up pushing the likes of QAnon talking points and scoffing at its extremism. And decades of right-wing attacks on the mainstream press have created a bubble in which the audience is unlikely to receive or credit contradictory information from those outlets.
The result is that we consistently see the conspiracy theories come to infest the ranks of the movement, from Vince Foster’s death to QAnon .
I expect the Paul Pelosi fantasy to follow the same route. Republican politicians and prominent Fox hosts will either stand by as the conspiracy theory builds credence on the right or even give a knowing wink and nod to its supporters. Some will probably promote it entirely, perhaps suggesting that these are simply questions that the media refuses to answer.
Credible news outlets will divert resources from covering the rising tide of right-wing political violence or the GOP’s disturbing policy aims if the party gains ground in the midterm elections to pointing out that the right is peddling nonsense about Pelosi. But thanks to the right-wing media bubble, their facts won’t make it to the people inclined to believe it. And so a sizable chunk of the GOP will come to believe an absurd lie.
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The Grand Old Party is in thrall to crackpots, weirdos, and idiots. Who'd a thunk it?
JBB?...
Do people fall for this? Every sentient adult knows how democrats reacted to the attempted murder of congressmen and US Supreme court justices by democratic partisans. And now they expect these claims to be taken seriously.
It'd be funny if it weren't so pathetic.
Thrashing about?
Just feeling sorry for you.
Either you are smart enough to realize what a hypocrite you are, or you are brainwashed into actually believing this shit.
Which is worse, do you think?
Every sentient adult knows how democrats reacted to the attempted murder of congressmen and US Supreme court justices by democratic partisans.
What the fuck are you talking about? That is a blatantly idiotic statement. I’m embarrassed for you.
Never be embarrassed for someone else.
Show me where you blamed Democratic talking points for inspiring those crimes or I'm embarrassed for you,
Hard to believe grown adults blame Republicans for creating "toxic environments" for crimes committed by a literal crazy person, while refusing to do so when partisan democrats try to kill Republicans.
but here we are. I guess I see why liberal politicians and media post this nonsense. They've got the suckers on the line.
Suddenly you’re switching gears from “Democrat reactions to attempted murder” to “democratic talking points” that inspired a perpetrator to violence. Big difference.
Beware of the 'circle jerkers'.
www.politico.com /news/2022/10/31/conservatives-disinformation-paul-pelosi-assault-00064208
Prominent conservatives share online disinformation about Paul Pelosi assault
6-7 minutes
Police tape is seen in front of the home of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Oct. 28, 2022, in San Francisco, Calif. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Even as Republican leaders condemn the brutal assault on Speaker Nancy Pelosi ‘s husband, other GOP figures are broadcasting a much different message on social media — at turns downplaying, mocking and trading in disinformation about the attack.
Former Republican President Donald Trump has so far remained silent online about the Pelosi home invasion, but his son Donald Trump Jr. retweeted a proposed “Paul Pelosi” Halloween costume featuring men’s underwear and a hammer, saying “The Internet remains undefeated.” Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, embraced a false anti-LGBTQ conspiracy surrounding the attack, tweeting and then deleting a post suggesting the perpetrator was a “male nudist hippie prostitute.”
Trump Jr.'s and Higgins’ posts followed a deleted tweet from Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, that also gave credence to the same disinformation about David DePape, the 42-year-old perpetrator of the Friday morning attack on the Pelosis’ San Francisco home. DePape’s previous ties to a prominent nudist activist in that city appear to have inspired the false claims that continue to gain traction online among conservatives.
And some Republicans are taking notice of the mismatch between GOP leaders’ official response to the assault — condemning it while rejecting any link to their campaign-trail attacks on Nancy Pelosi — and the less delicate online response by party figures.
“Jerk store jokes and tweets when it’s the ‘other side’ only feeds an environment that accepts political violence — violence that has and will continue to happen to officials of both parties which means we spin each other up as our discourse spirals down further,” Doug Heye, a former top Republican National Committee official, said in an interview.
One House Republican, speaking candidly about a colleague on condition of anonymity, described Higgins’ deleted tweet as “not appropriate ... we don’t want that in any political arena, whether it be Republican or Democrat.” The idea of any lawmaker’s spouse getting attacked, this Republican added, “puts us all in fear.”
Beyond Trump Jr. and Higgins, pro-Trump commentators from Charlie Kirk to former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. also weighed in online to raise questions about the investigation based on unfounded and false claims. Among those baseless claims: that a third person answered the door when police arrived at the Pelosi home, which San Francisco law enforcement has said is untrue; and that DePape was in his underwear when apprehended, a falsehood taken from a since-corrected local news report .
An affidavit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California on Monday that accompanied federal charges of DePape also noted multiple times that, contrary to some baseless claims spread online, Paul Pelosi did not know the intruder and had never seen him before — facts he relayed to the 911 dispatcher and law enforcement officers.
The affidavit also stated that the hammer DePape used did not belong to the Pelosi family.
In his testimony given to law enforcement, DePape said he entered the home in search of Nancy Pelosi by breaking a glass door. Paul Pelosi seemed “surprised” to see him, DePape said, according to federal filings.
Some of the conservative mockery that followed the Pelosi home invasion touched on Nancy Pelosi’s support for an assault weapons ban: Larry Elder, the right-wing radio host and failed California gubernatorial candidate, tweeted that the Speaker was weighing legislation restricting “assault hammers.”
“The Left is going crazy because not only are we not BUYING the wacky, implausible Paul Pelosi story but we are even LAUGHING over how ridiculous it is,” Dinesh D’Souza posted Sunday morning to his 2.5 million Twitter followers. “What this means is that we are no longer intimidated by their fake pieties. Their control over us has finally been broken.”
Another conservative Republican lawmaker, speaking candidly on condition of anonymity about the sensitive topic, said that reports of the attacker’s involvement in nudist culture are “picking up steam” more than other claims because they give credence to the argument that DePape was not a MAGA or Trump supporter.
DePape’s online activity before the Pelosi home invasion included antisemitism and alignment with false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election.
To be sure, other Republicans have addressed the matter more soberly. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who weathered the attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump in the tense hours of Jan. 6 while working closely with Pelosi, decried the attack on her husband. “This is an outrage and our hearts are with the entire Pelosi family,” Pence tweeted Friday .
As members of Congress mull potential security enhancements following the Pelosi attack, the tone of Republican leaders’ responses is likely to draw continued scrutiny. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), chair of the House GOP campaign arm, fielded tough questions on national TV Sunday regarding a tweet he posted of himself firing a gun with the hashtag "#FirePelosi.”
“Leadership in both parties in the House have now suffered through attacks, and leadership needs to be clear that not only are the attacks appalling but so, too, is the culture that revels in violence when it happens to an opponent,” Heye said.
Jeremy B. White, Olivia Beavers, Lara Korte and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
TFLDNR
The attempted assassination of a Supreme court justice by a partisan democrat was buried on page A20 of the New York Times.
A crazy man attacked the spouse of a Democratic politicians and it received two days of front page headlines.
If you ever wanted to see what partisan hysteria looked like, this is it.
One guy turned himself in before “attempting to assassinate”, the other actually broke into a house and cracked a man’s skull with a hammer. Sure … practically the same thing!
His entire "argument" is based on the assumption that there is an equivalency between millions of MAGA crackpots sharing the belief that John F Kennedy is still alive and conspiring with Donald Trump to save the country from Democratic pedophiles and the scant few people who supported threatening Kavanaugh and the baseball field attack by a "sanders supporter".
In the right wing la la land all things are equivalent , Biden lies as much as Trump, Hillary is a bigger crook than Trump, and CNN is more dishonest than Alex Jones. When you have zero standards for accuracy, everything sounds the same.
Exactly, the degrees and manifestations of mental illness are endless.
Wow, millions, I'm so out of touch.
You're right, I should have said tens of millions.
What's your system for keeping track of so many?
When Trump denied knowing what Q Anon was I knew right then that he considers them to be a major part of his base.
Probably the result of polling.
It’s not about degrees and manifestations, it’s about how committed the individual is to following through.
My guess is the Vulcan Mind Meld.