Matt Laslo: “The problem caused by having a conspiracy-peddler-in-chief — who during a major public health crisis, promoted a then-unproven and since-debunked potential treatment for the coronavirus as either a ‘cure’ for or prophylactic against COVID-19 and mused on camera about the need to study ingesting commercial disinfectants to cure the infection — is only amplified by some of the new media organizations that birthed his campaign and have since propped his intellectually beleaguered presidency through nearly every falsehood, lie and myth onto which he’s latched.”

“Coronavirus conspiracy theorists have now revealed themselves. What can the rest of us do?
Of late, some platforms have momentarily woken up and are now trying to stem the tide of conspiracies the president has spread, but others are yet refusing to back down. Sadly, the modern media landscape allows countless conspiracies, falsehoods and lies to be presented to readers in the same way, and with the same gravitas and imprimatur, as facts. So just as president is pulling at any straw he can find — from ‘saving’ Confederate flags on military bases (that even many Republicans now acknowledge as racist) to sending federal forces into major cities that don’t want them — in search of electoral magic, so too is the right-wing media machine that’s been with him through every offensive, heartbreaking or questionable act of his tenure in the Oval Office.”