Kerby Anderson

Law professor Jonathan Turley writes about free speech, but also has a book on Rage and the Republic about to be released. We get a preview of his concerns in his article, “Clickbait: How the left created yet another false story to trigger outrage.”

To put the latest false narrative about the “bait boy” story in perspective, he begins by reminding of the outrage Democratic leaders expressed about the false story of Border agents whipping migrants in Texas. He adds, “The media continued to repeat the false account, even as many of us pointed out that the publicly available video showed the story was demonstrably untrue. It did not matter. It fit the narrative on the left.”

The true facts were that the 5-year-old was not used as “bait” but abandoned by his father in the freezing cold. ICE agents took him to his mother, who would not open the door. They took him to McDonalds, played his favorite music, and took care of him. Later his father asked for the boy to join him at the detention facility.

Cal Thomas also wrote about prominent Democrats promoting the false story of 5-year-old boy used as "bait" to get his father. “Reporters rarely question the promoters of a false narrative whether they would like to apologize for what they said.”

He goes on to explain: “False narratives are not new. Recall "Hands up, don't shoot" (Michael Brown/Ferguson, Missouri, 2014), the Russian collusion hoax, Trump is a Russian agent, the Hunter Biden laptop, and so many more.”

This is another lesson for why we need discernment and why we need to wait until we have all the facts. These two authors (who disagree on many political issues with each other) both agree that we are living in a world of false narratives.