Viral Biden video is a terrifying signal of the coming ‘disinformation tsunami’ in 2020: columnist

As fake news and disinformation continues to chip away at reasonable discourse in American politics, a misleadingly edited video of Joe Biden made the rounds this week, taking comments he made out of context to paint a false picture that he was endorsing white supremacy. According to Greg Sargent in a piece for The Washington Post, the Biden video is going to be nothing compared to the wave of fake news that will come in 2020.

Making this era particularly challenging is the fact that the President of the United States has a direct hand in the spread of disinformation.

"Trump has retweeted accounts from the far-right conspiracy theorist QAnon," Sargent writes. "What’s more, Trump and his prominent supporters have played an active role in spreading disinformation against Democrats. After a conspiracy theory falsely connected former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke to the recent Texas mass murderer, shadowy but prominent Trump allies amplified the claim."

"All this is a sign of what the Democratic nominee could face," Sargent continues. "It’s no wonder that some Democrats are worried we might even see 'deepfake' media manipulations. Imagine such ultra-sophisticated video distortions of Biden’s rambles, retweeted by Trump, and perhaps even by reporters."

According to Sargent, Trump doesn't see fake news as a scourge that needs to combatted; he sees it as an "ally."

Read his full piece over at The Washington Post.