There is confusion surrounding the origin of the old but prescient saying, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” It was true in 1710 when Jonathan Swift may have coined it, or 1919 when Mark Twain is alleged to have done so, or perhaps when FDR’s Secretary of State Cordell Hull wrote my favorite iteration, “A lie will gallop halfway ‘round the world before the truth has time to pull its breeches on.” And none of these people even had Twitter.
In late September, a story with the attention-grabbing headline, “Colorado Secretary of State mails postcards to non-citizens, dead people urging them to vote” aired on Denver’s CBS4. In the 48 hours before it was pulled down by station management, it was hyped nationwide online by conservatives up to and including Donald Trump Jr. Because it boosted their bogus election conspiracy narratives, especially concerning mail ballots.
The president’s eldest son tweeted a link to that story to his 5.8 million followers shortly after it appeared with the message, “Sure the Dems aren’t trying to cheat!!!” That tweet was seen by untold numbers of Americans who have now been made baselessly suspicious of Colorado’s gold-standard mail ballot system.
The misinformation sprang from a postcard that has been routinely mailed to voters by election officials of both parties, using consumer databases of non-voters and other data to achieve what should be a goal of every Coloradan regardless of party — registration of every eligible voter in the state. The postcard clearly states the eligibility requirements of voting in Colorado, which, and I can’t believe I have to say this, excludes dead people and non-citizens.
To his credit, Tim Weiland, CBS4’s news director, removed the story from the CBS4 website and thanked followers on social media for debunking it. Unfortunately, by the time the story was deleted, it had already spread to other news stations in Colorado (which have yet to correct or remove their versions), the popular conservative propaganda site Breitbart, and even syndicated to news giant MSN — which is still up online today.
President Donald Trump and his party have been spreading myths about voting by mail in order to undermine the results of an election that every poll on the planet suggests they are about to lose in a landslide. This, coupled with the well-coordinated right-wing disinformation ecosystem that starts with local conservative activists and ends with Fox News hosts, national right-wing personalities, and the Trumps themselves, makes it no small wonder that this roundly debunked story lives on.
Worse yet, Congressman and Colorado Republican Party Chairman Ken Buck, citing this false story after it’s deletion, asked the Department of Justice to “investigate.” Shortly after, a right-wing dark-money organization, Judicial Watch, filed a lawsuit against Colorado making false and eerily related claims about our voter registration system.
The only thing they’re missing is evidence.
Sadly, this wasn’t the only myth from Colorado that recently went viral. Last week, a so-called “patriot muster” turned deadly when an attendee named Lee Keltner was shot and killed by Matthew Dolloff, who was providing private security for 9News under contract. Dolloff shot Keltner with numerous cameras rolling after Keltner attacked Dolloff with an open hand and as Keltner sprayed pepper spray toward Dolloff.
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Within minutes, conservative Twitter personalities from Charlie Kirk (1.8 million followers) to Colorado’s own Michelle Malkin (2.2 million followers) spread an unsubstantiated narrative that Dolloff was some kind of Antifa assassin — which then morphed into a bizarre conspiracy theory that 9News had hired a professional agitator to start the whole thing, and that somehow legendary Denver Post photographer Helen Richardson was in on it, too. On Tuesday, this baseless conspiracy theory was retweeted several times by the president of the United States himself. Donald Trump has the seventh-largest Twitter fanbase in the entire world.
Dolloff is in custody, and the justice system will decide whether or not using deadly force in that situation was self-defense. But once again the right was far too quick to let social media be judge, jury, and investigator.
CBS4’s belated removal of their false story failed to stop those who would like to see mail ballots undermined to give Trump a pretext to not concede defeat.
It’s a punishing lesson in the power of modern media, especially when amplified by bad actors. There are those who will advance a narrative at any cost, knowing full well that a Tweet will ricochet around the planet while the truth never gets its breeches on.
Ian Silverii is the executive director of ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest progressive advocacy group.
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