The battle for accountability in a culture of impunity, in which reality increasingly plays second fiddle to conspiracy theories and misinformation, intensified Tuesday when a soccer star doubled down on his baseless claims about a Late night host and a federal appeals court judge scrutinized a former president's claim of immunity from prosecution for his role in a violent insurrection.
It's not a stretch to mention in the same breath New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has claimed without evidence that Jimmy Kimmel was associated with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and Donald Trump, who pushed the baseless narrative that he is immune from criminal offences. charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a campaign that itself was built on lies. After all, none of these men have the facts on their side. They simply have public platforms, colorful stories, and a victim complex—all key ingredients in the art of ignoring facts to amass followers.
If the first weeks of 2024 were turned into a period drama, it would be called “Lies and Guilt” and it would be a Shakespearean tragedy, not a Jane Austen romance. The country's relationship with truth, or even reasonable doubt, is so eroded that anything is now plausible: The attack on the Capitol on January 6 was a “federal insurrection,” an FBI inside job. The popular site Etsy is actually a hub for child pornography, as evidenced by photos of (wait for it) pizza. Vice President Kamala Harris breathes through gills (I didn't make this up).
It is easy to laugh at such ridiculous tales and dismiss them. Less entertaining is a poll released last week showing that a third of the country believes President Biden's election was illegitimate despite ample evidence to the contrary. Not to mention the dangerous fictions spread daily about Jews, Muslims, Asians, transgender people and other groups, resulting in increased hatred and violence against them.
That is why the fight for accountability now being waged in the courts, and in the court of public opinion, is so vital and sometimes worrying, because it is not clear who wins week after week, hour after hour.
Rodgers is a prime example of throwback. In a Jan. 2 appearance on ESPN's “The Pat McAfee Show,” the conspiracy-minded athlete steered the conversation toward a perennial favorite of the QAnon crowd, pedophilia and Epstein. Rodgers said many high-profile people were nervous about the revelation of Epstein's client list.
“There are a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, who really hope that doesn't come out.” His ill-advised comments prompted a swift response from Kimmel on social media, and on Monday, Kimmel dedicated the opening monologue of his late-night show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, to rebutting Rodgers.
“I don't know Jeffrey Epstein. “I never met Jeffrey Epstein,” Kimmel said. “I'm not on a list. I was never on a plane or on an island or anything like that, and I suggested that if Aaron wanted to make false and very damaging statements like that, we should do it in court so he could share his evidence with a judge.”
But Rodgers appeared unfazed Tuesday on “The Pat McAfee Show” as he doubled down on the Epstein connection in his response to Kimmel's monologue. “I'm not stupid enough … to accuse him of that without absolutely any evidence, concrete evidence,” Rodgers said. However, he did not present any evidence; Apparently his evidence is somewhere in the same imaginary vault as Trump's stolen votes.
The quarterback said he'd like to put the issue “to bed, moving forward,” and then blamed the media for trying to “cancel” him… the same media he's using to discredit Kimmel.
Hours earlier, Trump made a personal court appearance with his legal team, who sought to convince a panel of judges that former presidents should not be prosecuted for actions taken in office.
Judge Florence Pan was skeptical of the argument. “Are you saying a president could sell pardons, he could sell military secrets, he could tell SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival?” she asked. Trump's lawyer, John Sauer, responded that a former president could only be impeached if he was first impeached by the House of Representatives. and convicted in the Senate. After the hearing, Trump warned of “chaos” if the trial continues.
The threat of violence was backed by confidence that he too will win this battle. And maybe he will, since accountability is a unicorn in the politics and tribalism of a divided country. It's not just Trump and his allies, like Rep. Elise Stefanik, who have cultivated an impressive imperviousness to the facts (they recently referred to federal criminal defendants jailed in connection with the Jan. 6 attack as “hostages” of the system judicial). . It's a huge swath of our fellow Americans.
But accountability is still possible within the law: Dominion Voting Systems won nearly $787 million in a settlement with Fox News Channel and Fox Corp. in a defamation lawsuit that alleged Fox broadcast false information that voting machines Dominion were rigged to tilt the election in Biden's favor. favor. And three years after the attack on the Capitol, hundreds have been convicted.
Trump's legal team and his allies have not had the same success in court as they have on social media. The pitched battle to fight politically engineered falsehoods and wild conspiracies is terrifying, but these legal victories mean those who care about truth and accountability must continue the fight.
