Trump is drowning in the misinformation swamp he helped create

A version of this story appeared in CNN Business’ Nightcap newsletter. When corrected by a moderator, Donald Trump doubled down: “The people on television say their dog was eaten by the people that went there.” “They’re eating the dogs,” quickly became a punchline among commentators who understand that the whole story about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets in Ohio was a lie, rooted in a well-established racist history. A spokesperson for Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said last week that it works “to remove and reduce the spread of spammy content to ensure a positive user experience” and “take action against those who attempt to manipulate traffic through inauthentic engagement.” Musk, who fired Twitter’s communications staff when he took over the platform, didn’t respond to a request for comment. The former reality star made his name in politics in part by exploiting social media’s power to broadcast lies and conspiracy theories to the masses, starting with his racist “birther” attacks on President Barack Obama. In endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, Swift wrote that the incident with the fake images of her “conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation.” She signed off on the post by calling herself a “childless cat lady” — a nod to widely ridiculed comments from Trump’s running mate, JD Vance.