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Everything Is Content for the 'Clicktatorship'

WIRED

Everything Is Content for the'Clicktatorship' In the second Trump administration, online conspiracy theories are shaping real-world policies like never before. In President Donald Trump's second term, everything is content . Videos of immigration raids are shared widely on X by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), conspiracy theories dictate policy, and prominent right-wing podcasters and influencers have occupied high-level government roles. The second Trump administration is, to put it bluntly, very online. Trump and his supporters have long trafficked in--and benefited from-- misinformation and conspiracy theories, leveraging them to build visibility on social media platforms and set the tone of national conversations.


DAVID MARCUS: With Trump in power, 'South Park' seeks to get its edge back

FOX News

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk spoke with Fox News Digital about his thoughts of "South Park" parodying him in an upcoming episode, calling it a "badge of honor." "South Park," Comedy Central's gold-standard animated sitcom, has launched its 27th season on America's television screens and, with President Trump back in the White House, politics is back on the menu for creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Much like our national media ecosystem, Trump and his presidency are the driving force behind almost every plot line in the first three episodes this year. Much of it is quite funny, but one does wonder: Where was all this hilarious hijinx regarding Joe Biden's "Weekend At Bernie's" presidency? The overarching premise of the season thus far is that, with the election of Trump, wokeness is finally dead.


Biden's doctor thought cognitive tests were 'meaningless,' ex-aide Bruce Reed told investigators

FOX News

Former deputy chief of staff for policy Bruce Reed arrived on Capitol Hill for his closed-door deposition with the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday. Former White House physician Kevin O'Connor previously dismissed cognitive tests as "meaningless," ex-Biden administration aide Bruce Reed told House investigators on Tuesday, according to a source familiar with the proceedings. Reed, who served as White House deputy chief of staff for policy, is the ninth member of former President Joe Biden's inner circle to sit down with House Oversight Committee lawyers. A source familiar with his interview told Fox News Digital that Reed attributed Biden's disastrous 2024 debate performance against then-candidate Donald Trump to the former president's stutter, a condition that's been well-documented and Biden himself has publicly acknowledged. But his meandering and seemingly tired demeanor on stage with Trump alarmed both Democrats and media pundits, who saw it as a glaring sign of Biden's advanced age.


GREGG JARRETT: Biden, the 'marionette president; and the case of the runaway autopen

FOX News

Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy has the latest on the Department of Justice investigating former President Joe Biden's pardons and his alleged autopen usage on'The Faulkner Focus.' There is mounting evidence that Joe Biden was president in name only during much of his time in office. In his stead, a cabal of top White House staffers appears to have secretly operated a de facto presidency, making crucial decisions without a shred of constitutional authority. If proven true, it would call into question the validity of pardons and executive orders issued under his name but without his knowledge or consent. For this reason, it is imperative that Biden's closest advisers answer questions under oath and others in his orbit be forced to disclose what they knew or observed.


Trump calls AI pope image a joke, but experts say it's no laughing matter

The Japan Times

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the backlash against an artificial intelligence-generated image of him as the pope posted by the White House on social media, saying it was a harmless joke, but communications experts said they did not see the funny side. The weekend AI-generated posts of Trump dressed in white papal vestments and another of him wielding one of the red light sabers preferred by villains in the "Star Wars" movies appeared typical of the provocation the president employs to energize supporters and troll critics. Since returning to office on Jan. 20, Trump has dominated news cycles. In an otherwise relatively quiet weekend, the two images ensured Trump stayed a major topic of conversation on social media and beyond. Throughout his political career, Trump has embraced bold visuals, from posing in a garbage truck to standing outside a church during protests against police brutality.


Trump Is the Emperor of A.I. Slop

The New Yorker

On February 19th, Donald Trump logged onto Truth Social to congratulate himself on vanquishing congestion pricing in his home state. "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD," he posted. "Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. The message was amplified by the White House's official X account, which tweeted it with an A.I.-generated image of Trump, golden-haired and golden-crowned, blotting out the New York City skyline. The illustration, which was styled to look like the cover of Time magazine, displayed the President's fondness for crude symbols of power and wealth.


5 likely choices for who really ran the disastrous Biden White House

FOX News

For years, conservative media, lawmakers and talking heads have been sounding the alarm about President Joe Biden's cognitive free fall. And for years, left-wing media, lawmakers and their loyal mouthpieces waved it off with the same condescending dismissal -- accusing us of lying, fear-mongering or worse. Some even went so far as to say they couldn't keep up with Biden's supposed brilliance and jam-packed schedule of what was mostly just one morning briefing and two mid-afternoon naps. Now that Biden has shuffled out of office, left-wing media seems to be waking up to the glaringly obvious. The New York Times of all places -- yes, the same paper that acted as Biden's PR firm -- has revealed that he relied on teleprompters during intimate fundraisers in private homes.


'Big Money and High Quality People': Stargate Joint Venture to Invest in U.S. AI Infrastructure

TIME - Tech

President Donald Trump on Tuesday talked up a joint venture investing up to 500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. The initial investment is expected to be 100 billion and could reach five times that sum. "It's big money and high quality people," said Trump, adding that it's "a resounding declaration of confidence in America's potential" under his new administration. Joining Trump fresh off his inauguration at the White House were Masayoshi Son of SoftBank, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Larry Ellison of Oracle.


This Popular Theory About Why Democrats Lost Has Some Glaring Holes

Slate

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. What's wrong with these darn institutions, and why does nobody trust them? That's the question lurking behind every postmortem about why Democrats lost the 2024 presidential election and what they could do to start winning future ones. The thinking goes like this: Donald Trump, as a political figure, represents blowing up the status quo; Trump won and the incumbent vice president lost; ergo, a majority of voters are unhappy with the people and groups responsible for the status quo. But the evidence that residents of the United States don't trust their institutions goes beyond election results.


Trump posts AI fakes implying Taylor Swift endorsement

Al Jazeera

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has posted fake images suggesting that pop star Taylor Swift and her legion of fans are backing him in the upcoming United States election. Trump posted the images, all of which appear to be AI-generated deepfakes taken from right-wing social media accounts with a history of sharing misinformation, along with a message saying "I accept!" One image showed smiling Swift fans, known as Swifties, wearing t-shirts reading: "Swifties for Trump". Another depicted Swift dressed as Uncle Sam, a character from a First World War US Army recruitment poster, urging people to vote for Trump. A third showed a fake headline, beneath the tag "satire", suggesting Swift fans turned to Trump after one of the singer's concerts was cancelled in the Austrian capital Vienna earlier this month when it was targeted by hardliners.