Research into online filter bubbles confirms that Democrats and Republicans actually live in two different realities. That is, their beliefs about what is true differ in significant ways. And because the beliefs held by people in other bubbles have been deemed ridiculous inside our bubbles, we have a hard time accepting that the people in the other bubbles really do believe those things.
But they do. Indeed, that is what living in a post-truth world means.
The best way to get a feel for this is to sample the opposing side’s media for a week. If your politics slant left, watch only FoxNews for a week. If they slant right, watch only MSNBC for a week. And then imagine what you might believe if that was your news source for years or decades.
So as many conservatives see it …
- Democrats shut down the government last month in an attempt to keep some of their tax-and-spend policies in place.
- ICE raids are partly heroic battles against illegal immigrant invaders and criminals, and partly a long-overdue measure made necessary by Democrats’ unwillingness to enforce the law.
- Renewable energy is a costly scam that increases electricity prices and makes the electric grid less reliable.
If that sounds unreasonable to you, sample the FoxNews pages for these issues for a week or more. [Govt Shutdown / Immigration / Energy]
And as many liberals see it …
- Republicans shut down the government last month in order to fund tax cuts for billionaires while cutting Medicaid and other programs that benefit the economically vulnerable.
- ICE raids are semi-lawless violent intrusions into local authority by under-trained thugs who rough up and deport people who are legally present in the U.S., contrary to the law.
- Renewable energy is cheap and clean, and a good way to mitigate the increasingly costly harms caused by climate change.
If that sounds unreasonable to you, sample the MSNBC pages for these issues. [Immigration / Environment / Shutdown]
Which brings us to Megyn Kelly
Former FoxNews host Megyn Kelly recently provided a particularly pointed illustration of this reality gap. When the news broke that Homeland Security Secretary Tom Homan had accepted a $50,000 cash bribe to steer government contracts to specific companies, Kelly tweeted:
“We DO NOT CARE. Don’t bother @RealTomHoman he’s a national treasure.”
When former GOP operative and never-Trumper Tim Miller asked her if she was serious about not caring about the bribery, she responded with this tweet (click to enlarge):
Now, it is important to remember that this tweet came only a short time after the murder of Charlie Kirk, and so some of Kelly’s hyperbole may reflect anger about that. Many of Kelly’s vague references may be unfamiliar to those in left-leaning bubbles, so I have annotated the tweet to explain them in the two images below. (Click to enlarge; Google the explanations if they don’t ring a bell.)
If you have time, research these claims. Some have kernels of truth while others do not. But for purposes of understanding the current political predicament, it does not matter how much truth or falsity there is in each of these beliefs. What matters is that the entire litany of accusations probably reflects sincerely- and widely-held beliefs among large swaths of voters whose news comes exclusively from right wing media.[1]
Some people on the left may want to believe that Megyn Kelly is being disingenuous here, but she lives in a very different reality than they do. My best guess is that she believes what she says in the tweet.
The other important feature of this tweet is Kelly’s embrace of tribal identity and her willingness to ascribe immorality to an entire political party and all of its members. “You laughed at our pain …” “You gleefully cancelled us …” “We only care about defeating you.” Presumably she knows that Tim Miller didn’t do all of those things, but she ascribes responsibility to the collective that opposes Trump and the GOP, a group of which Miller is a part.
When political scientists chronicle the rise of “negative partisanship,” it is that kind of visceral, tribal animosity that they are measuring.
A Dangerous Moment
In Climate of Contempt I summarize the research documenting the rise of this negative partisanship and how it triggers attribution errors like these. I also cite data indicating that has become common among active partisans in both parties.
Trump and Trump Administration officials have broken many laws, but MAGA partisans see enforcement of those laws against MAGA violators as political persecution. And so they too have no qualms about using the law to pursue their enemies. When upholding the rule of law exacerbates partisan hatred, we are in a dangerous moment.
The key to recovering a functional democracy is breaking the spell of ideological and social media that feeds this kind of tribalism. Many of my other posts here explain how I think that might be done. But it starts with understanding that all of us want to be the heroes of our own stories. — David Spence
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[1] Those who doubt Kelly’s sincerity can point to Fox News’ intentional promotion of lies about the 2020 election, or to Kelly’s recent insinuation that Jeffrey Epstein may not have been a pedophile because he didn’t abuse very young children. These incidents suggest, correctly, that right wing media personalities sometimes lobby viewers in disingenuous ways. But they do not undermine the claim that many MAGA voters believe accusations in Kelly’s tweet, or that those claims are accepted as true within many online social media communities.
