This infestation is growing. The symptoms include paranoia, megalomania, delusions, and the perception of demons and/or global conspirators around every corner. The interpretation of extraordinary events (that have rational causes that they do not believe in), but rather see as evidence of a paranoid, fantastical, irrational worldview.
Salon, Matthew Rozsa, 11 Jan 2025: Los Angeles wildfires have become perfect fuel for Trump and climate denial, subtitled “Misinformation is spreading rapidly as experts say climate change is the likely accelerant for California’s crisis”
As of Friday, the plague of wildfires in Los Angeles has consumed more than 20,000 acres, destroyed roughly 13,000 buildings, forced more than 180,000 evacuations and caused at least 11 deaths. Though this is one of the most destructive disasters in California history, some have wasted no time in leveraging the crisis to further an agenda.
In the midst of the ongoing crisis, President-elect Donald Trump and his supporters in right-wing media are spreading misinformation about the cause of the fires and how future disasters can be addressed in the future. Scientists who spoke to Salon emphasized two points: The fires are being exacerbated by climate change, and the misinformation being spread about it can be dangerous.
“Climate change is 100% responsible” for the wildfires Kyla Bennett, director of senior policy at the activist group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told Salon. “No question. I am very scared about our future — meaning all of us, not just Americans.”
Bennett drew attention to false claims from conservatives that the wildfires occurred because of pro-diversity DEI programs, and from Trump specifically that firefighters lacked water to put out blazes because it was diverted to protect the Delta smelt, an endangered fish. Gov. Gavin Newsom has demanded an investigation as to why the hydrants ran dry, which officials say occurred as water supplies were overtaxed. Some online conservatives incorrectly claim the fire departments lack money because of funds given to support Ukraine against Russia, while top Trump adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed agreement with a post from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones attributing the wildfires to a “larger globalist plot to wage economic warfare and deindustrialize” the United States before “triggering total collapse.”
The narratives coming out from many Republicans on social media are “all bogus,” Bennett said. “This is climate change — they [southern California] have not received rain in eight months. This is a harbinger of things to come for much of the country. We are in deep trouble, and there is no relief in sight.”
She also expressed apprehension about the incoming Trump administration, which has a history of denying climate change and propping up fossil fuel companies. “With a climate change denier coming into office, I fear we are doomed,” Bennett said.
As of today, the evacuation warning map extends to within a mile of the Woodland Hills house we lived in until ten years go.
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- Salon, Alex Galbraith, 11 Jan 2025: “Is it on purpose?”: Gibson peddles wildfire conspiracies on Fox News after home burns, subtitled “The actor was recording an episode of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ as his California home burned” (Answer: No.)
- And: JMG, 11 Jan 2025: Mel Gibson Suggests Dems “Commissioned” Wildfires (Answer: No, they didn’t. Clearly, he’s infected by alien mind parasites.)
- How the right uses the same playbook after every disaster. Media Matters, Matt Gertz, 10 Jan 2025: A firestorm of right-wing propaganda
The right treats every disaster as an opportunity to attack the left, with talking points bubbling up from the fever swamps or filtering down from Trump, then spreading swiftly through the ecosystem thanks to the all-encompassing nature of its propaganda machine.
We’ve seen the same pattern repeatedly over the last few years, following deadly natural disasters in North Carolina and Puerto Rico and California, among others.
- JMG, 11 Jan 2025: Watters Calls For “Federal Takeover” Of California
- There are people who do these things. NewsMeter, 11 Jan 2025: Fact Check: Wildfires in Los Angeles? No, this video is AI-generated
The worst place to get your news is social media. It’s mostly lies.
