The Right Wing Reveres The Drudge Report. This Explains So Much.
Matt Drudge, who for nearly two decades has been the go-to “news” source for the right wing, is pushing a dangerous Hurricane Matthew conspiracy theory. Drudge offered one tweet that credited “the deplorables,” aka the far right and the alt-right, with the stupidity, but unabashedly joined them in the second:
Of course, even Rick Scott, the Republican governor of Florida, has point-blank urged well over a million to evacuate and said Hurricane Matthew is so severe, it “will kill you.” But there are now, apparently, Hurricane Matthew truthers, and it seems Drudge is leading the charge.Â
Vox didn’t mince words: “Matt Drudge’s latest conspiracy theory is not just stupid — it’s dangerous.”
Drudge’s conspiracy-mongering is a dangerous game. More than 1.5 million people live in the evacuation zone for Matthew. It’s already difficult to get people to take evacuation warnings seriously — so difficult that emergency managers have a slew of haunting tricks to drive home the danger of hurricanes, including asking people to write their Social Security numbers on their arms if they’re staying behind so that their bodies can be identified.
The implication of Drudge’s tweet is that resisting evacuation isn’t a bad, self-destructive move but a brave way for “deplorables†to stand up for the government. That’s not just stupid — it could very well be deadly.
Conspiracy theorist and idiot Alex Jones joined in:
Some on Twitter pointed out just how dangerous it is to tell millions of people that maybe the hurricane isn’t as bad as the experts say:
To be clear, Hurricane Matthew is already responsible for well over 100 deaths. Will Drudge be responsible for more?Â
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