"A large part of this election was about the power of clickbait, Crenshaw told reporters after his loss. Memes became truth. Too many people are not discerning through the clickbait. People voting one after the other literally thought I was making millions in the stock market doing inside trading. Even though I haven't made a trade in three years."
"First of all, you have about 20% of Republican voters bothering to even vote in a primary, and then you have dozens of online smears and conspiracies that, people were going into the voting booth actually believing. Believing that I was worth millions of dollars from insider trading. Doesn't matter how many times we thought we had debunked that."
"The lesson to be learned is, look, you've got to get the truth out. You have to try. but ultimately this is a question for the American people: Are you going to believe everything that you read online or that is sent to you in your mail?"
Rep. Dan Crenshaw attributed his primary loss to far-right state Rep. Steve Toth to the spread of misinformation among Republican voters. Toth and Tucker Carlson promoted false claims that Crenshaw engaged in insider trading, which he denied, noting he made no trades in three years and earned under $46,000 over seven years in office. Crenshaw emphasized that clickbait and memes became accepted as truth, with voters believing the false allegations despite debunking efforts. He noted that only 20% of Republican voters participated in the primary, making them susceptible to dozens of online smears and conspiracies. Crenshaw called on Americans to critically evaluate information received online and through mail, while also noting Democrats spent nearly a million dollars promoting these same smears on television.
Read at www.mediaite.com
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