I grew up in Florida, and I can tell you hurricanes don’t give a damn about your politics. They’re vicious, destructive, deadly. They’re downright humbling.
So as Hurricane Milton roars across the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 5 storm, with the west coast of Florida square in its path, it’s the height of stupid that Floridians and Americans in general have to worry about two things: the potentially unprecedented destruction the storm might leave in its wake, and the dangerous and destructive lies the Republican nominee for president might spout once the storm has passed.
You’re welcome to scoff at me equating the two things, but former President Donald Trump’s lies and misinformation since Hurricane Helene wrecked havoc across the South have done serious harm ‒ and they continue to sow confusion and distrust.
Trump has, in just the past week:
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. His cynical attempts to use a deadly natural disaster to help his struggling reelection campaign created a permission structure for right-wing loons to flood social media sites with misinformation, ranging from GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s suggestion that the government........