The people who tell you books are dangerous are now terrorizing elementary school kids with bomb threats in Springfield, Ohio.
Meanwhile Trump and his shadow-running-mate Elon Musk continue to fan the flames by promoting a debunked racist conspiracy theory about legal Haitian immigrants stealing and eating family pets and geese from the local park.
After bomb threats forced the closures of Springfield's City Hall, a school, and other locations on Thursday, Meme-lord Musk thought it was a good idea to get Friday the 13th started by sharing another "Truth" from Trump featuring yet another AI-generated cat meme.
Musk used a crying laughing face emoji to communicate to his 197.5 million followers how funny he thought it was.
Unsurprisingly, the domestic terrorism plaguing Springfield, Ohio got even worse on Friday.
Faced with new bomb threats, students from Perrin Woods and Snowhill elementary schools in Springfield were evacuated during the morning of Sept. 13. Catholic Central School in Springfield also announced its closure for all students due to "safety threats." Parents had to rush back to school to pick up kids of all ages—kindergartners through grade 12—by 10:15 am.
They're traumatizing your kindergarteners!
On one hand, doubling down on disinformation shows the desperation in the GOP following Trump‘s debate debacle.
On the other, Republicans clearly believe these kinds of racist lies—which have worked in the past—will still prove effective with a large segment of America’s voting population.
Trump, currently more affectionate with far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer than he is with an American flag at CPAC, is upping the ante by falsely claiming the Haitian immigrants in Springfield are "illegal."
The terror in Springfield is far beyond bomb threats, with windows being smashed, cars being vandalized, and Haitian families scared to leave their homes.
This kind of violence is typical in the MAGA era, as Trump, Musk and other online trolls, along with elected Republicans and Fox News hosts who should know better, promote conspiracy theories designed to enrage dimwitted, low-info voters.
JD Vance, Senator from Ohio, continues to promote stochastic terrorism within his own state. And Jim Jordan, never one to miss an opportunity to create misery for Ohio students, made deplorable use of the official House Judiciary GOP account to share an AI-generated meme that has now racked up more than 87 million views.
While none of the AI-generate memes are funny, it would be hysterical if someone actually tried to put a real cat or a duck into Trump's own tiny hands and asked him to care for it in real life.
Desperation and distraction
As clinical psychologist Dr. Vince Greenwood has told me many times, the psychopath Trump will always be remorseless in his "win at all costs" tactics. And dominating the news cycle, by any means possible, is always his go-to move.
On those terms, his disinformation campaign has succeeded. He's diminished the amount of coverage Harris is getting post-debate, post-Taylor Swift endorsement, and right at the moment she enjoys a new surge in the polls.
Meanwhile, if Haitians in Springfield get hurt or killed—or if kindergarteners have nightmares—Trump won’t care.
The fact that Trump, Vance, and Musk are leaning into the "Haitians eating pets" nonsense shows the true extent of the desperation. Trump has no real plan. He doesn’t even have a "concept of a plan." All he has are false promises, bluster and a Project 2025 agenda that, as much as he denounces it now, he will dutifully execute if elected.
That’s why he can blithely make pledges like "no taxes on overtime" while failing to tell voters that Project 2025 will change the rules of overtime so drastically that many employers will no longer have to pay it.
Musk's dangerous dishonesty
We may never know the true impact of AI on this election, as the ways it is being deployed are not just obvious and dumb, they're also devious and behind-the-scenes. But the deluge of imagery that Musk's Grok AI is now producing is dramatically influencing the news cycle—and creating visuals that millions will remember.
Musk's insanity and dishonesty are on full display in the closing stages of this campaign. He thought his endorsement of Trump after the assassination attempt was a late-in-the-day anointment of a surefire winner.
Now he realizes that Kamala Harris is a far stronger, far more presidential—and far more popular—candidate than the mentally feeble Trump.
Musk's manic, increasingly unhinged reaction to the post-debate Taylor Swift endorsement of Harris shows his anxiety that in 2024 women—including childless cat ladies—may turn out to be more powerful than the combined force of America's ugliest men.
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