Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaking during the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

This moment feels a lot like those frightening early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were scrambling for reliable information about the growing health emergency. Then, like now, the Trump administration was at the heart of a propaganda effort fueled by right-wing media and hellbent on spreading lies and misinformation.  Back then, the administration was touting ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as COVID-19 cures; today, it’s peddling falsehoods about USAID funding condoms for Hamas.

Social media giants Twitter and Facebook restricted Donald Trump’s harmful lies during the pandemic. Today, those restrictions — and even basic fact-checking — are gone as both platforms have gone full MAGA. Elon Musk’s Twitter is even operating as de-facto state-sanctioned media.

The COVID pandemic killed over 1 million Americans. Today, we face a threat that is every bit as dangerous. A revengeful, lawless president and an unelected, unconfirmed, unsupervised oligarch are undermining our democracy before our very eyes. They are destroying vital agencies, improperly accessing our private information, purging workers, kneecapping Congress and ignoring court orders. This list grows longer every day. All of it puts our health, safety, prosperity and freedom on the line.

It’s another national emergency.  Although Trump again has the bigger megaphone, the opposition can and should fight back with an aggressive, fact-based counter-narrative. They know how to do this; they’ve done it before.

During COVID-19, others quickly stepped into the information breach, including former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Their daily fact-based briefings included life-saving information from experts and covered the number of new cases, the number of deaths, the provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other relevant facts. Cuomo’s briefings were carried live on cable news and drew huge audiences across the country. His straightforward approach was a notable contrast from Trump’s misleading, rant-filled appearances from the White House.

Pressure is building for Democrats to embrace a more timely, cohesive and yes, more aggressive response to the Trump/ Musk incursion.  The blue-state governors’ COVID-19 briefings (minus the since disgraced Cuomo) offer the perfect model. Every day, Democrats, in a high-profile setting, should share information about the impacts of Trump administration actions in communities across the country and highlight ongoing threats and specific attacks. These briefings should focus on facts but also include information on how Americans can protect themselves and their communities. They should spotlight efforts around the country to fight back by groups like Indivisible, CREW and Democracy Docket.

The briefings must be led by strong communicators with stature: governors, Members of Congress, party leaders, former Cabinet officials (some have suggested former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at the helm). These daily updates should be streamed across multiple media platforms including YouTube, even Twitter and Facebook.  Ideally, cable news outlets would also provide live, real-time coverage.  The TV producer in me says this would become must-see TV while also providing an important counterweight to the incessant Trump/Musk propaganda.

We are in an information war and so far, Trump and Musk are winning. Activists are doing their part to call attention to efforts to fight back and the harm being caused.  Just this weekend, there were nationwide protests at Tesla showrooms meant to shine a light on Musk’s enormous conflicts of interest and his outsized influence.  This coming week, while Congress is home on recess, Indivisible is calling for “Musk or US” protests at congressional offices.

The devastating impacts of the Trump/Musk presidency are also starting to break through in local news coverage as people discover the farm loan they were counting on was mysteriously canceled or their job guarding the country’s nuclear weapons was eliminated.  We are also getting an inside look at the Musk hacker attacks thanks to news outlets like Wired, 404 Media and others. Experts and analysts are providing incredible information beyond the headlines to help us understand what’s really at stake when Trump closes down an agency like CFPB or when 20-year-olds bust into sensitive payment systems. Political analysts like Molly Jong Fast are asking smart questions like, “Why is the richest man in the world cutting cancer research?”

To have a fighting chance, we need to tie all of this together as part of a shared national conversation. That should start with a daily briefing by the Democrats.  I hope they take up the challenge, and fast.

Jennifer Schulze is a Chicago journalist talking about journalism. You can read her columns at Heartland Signal and on her Substack “Indistinct Chatter.” Follow Jennifer on Bluesky @newsjennifer.bsky.social or Threads @newsjennifer_schulze.