OP-ED: Two lies and a hard truth about right-wing media

In a world of alternative facts and rabid disinformation, it can still be startling to watch lies explode across the media landscape. Social media has been littered with lies,and propaganda since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. But the disinformation doesn’t stop there. Here in the U.S., two whoppers have taken hold in some newsrooms and congressional offices. One is about Iran’s $6 billion, and the other is about a lid.

Lie # 1: The lid.

Let’s start with the lid. Seriously. A lid. Here’s what it means in political journalism parlance, according to the White House Correspondents Association:

Lid: Generically, when the pool is dismissed for the day with an assurance the President isn’t going anywhere or doing anything in public.

On Monday morning, the White House released a photo of President Joe Biden meeting with his national security team. The pool report noted that in that meeting, the president directed his team to work to “follow up on coordination with Israel on all aspects of the crisis and to continue their work with regional partners to warn anyone who might see to take advantage of this situation.” The pool report went on to note that the president would be speaking with close allies later in the day and would have more to share soon.

Then shortly before noon, the White House pool reporter Francesca Chambers emailed the White House press corps to say:

“The White House has called a lid for the day, before the pool call time. We will not be seeing the president today.”

Within minutes, two Fox News on-air talent posted tweets implying that the president was done working for the day in the middle of an international crisis when, of course, the opposite was true. Biden was done with reporters because he needed to focus on world leaders.

Here are the social media posts from Fox White House reporter Jacqui Heinrich and former Fox White House reporter and now-anchor John Roberts:

The Fox folks knew what they were doing. The two noted here are very familiar with White House operations and know exactly what a lid is and what it isn’t. Both have spent years covering the White House. They also know how to stir up the MAGA world, because the rest of the day was filled with GOP rants about the president taking the day off.

Fox continued to pound the lie on its live broadcasts.

MacCallum: Why did they call a lid?

Kirby: Well, a lid means that he doesn’t have anymore public-facing events, that doesn’t mean the president is not working. He is working. He stayed updated throughout the day. He will be talking to foreign leaders… pic.twitter.com/UdJFerI08P

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 9, 2023

And here’s a sampling of what the GOP lawmakers did the rest of the day and are still doing today:

Former editor and now-media critic Mark Jacob got it right: He said of this incident,

“Both of these people know what a “lid” is. It means the president plans no more public events that day — and in this case suggests Biden is in the Oval Office doing *more* work, not less. These fascist liars are undermining our country’s unity at a key moment.”

It turns out that the president was doing more work when later in the day, the White House announced a remarkable multinational aid agreement with our allies condemning the atrocities and promising a coordinated effort to help Israel.

Now that we see evidence that the president was busy getting important stuff done, it will be curious to see how the lid story plays out. MAGA hates to let go of a good lie, so assume you’ll keep hearing about it for days to come. That brings us to lie #2

Lie # 2: The Iran $6 billion.

The first Hamas rockets had barely landed before Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), former Vice President Mike Pence and others blamed the attack on President Biden, claiming that the administration gave $6 billion to Iran and then Iran used that money to fund the attacks on Israel.

That is not true, says White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson:

“Not a single cent from these funds has been spent, and when it is spent, it can only be spent on things like food and medicine for the Iranian people.”

But facts haven’t stopped more and more Republicans and right-wing media from spreading the lie. On Fox, there is on-going coverage of the $6 billion lie despite repeated fact checks from its national security reporter Jennifer Griffin. She is actively fact-checking it on air and on social media:

“Those who are saying that this $6 billion that was part of the American hostage release negotiated by the Biden administration likely fueled the Hamas invasion are missing some key facts…. None of the money has been spent yet. It remains in a Qatari bank under US Treasury watch.”

Shockingly, much of America’s mainstream media is still unable to rise to the challenge. Across the news this past weekend and beyond, reporters and pundits are asking Democrats and others including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken about the $6 billion. Blinken responded:

“The facts are these — no U.S. taxpayer dollars were involved. These were Iranian resources that Iran had accumulated from the sale of its oil that were stuck in a bank in South Korea.”

In each instance, the lie is refuted, but the damage has already been done.

The hard truth

This is a long-time Republican strategy (as it ever has been a strategy for autocrats). Tell a lie loudly enough and often enough, and the lie will work its way into the mainstream media coverage. That’s what has happened with both the “lid” and the $6 billion. The lie is talked about so much by Republicans and MAGA media and then amplified by bots and other bad actors on social media that the disinformation worms its way into the mainstream media coverage. Then “the story” is out there to, at best, muddy the waters and, at worst, convince people that the Republicans are telling the truth.

Neither the MAGA media nor the MAGA GOP has anything to offer Americans during a crisis. Their daily habit of outrage and lies is bad in “normal” times. When we face a series of international challenges, it is a danger.

Jennifer Schulze is a former Chicago journalist who talks media every month on WCPT 820AM on “Live, Local & Progressive with Joan Esposito” with former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob. You can follow her on Twitter/X @NewsJennifer or Threads @jenniferschulzechi.