What A Meme Has To Do With Our Perception Of The Mueller Investigation

“It would be a big mistake to think that this is not an era of propaganda. Because, in fact, it is.”

By Rhonda FanningMarch 26, 2019 12:38 pm, ,

In the wake of the Mueller report, and subsequent summary letter by Attorney General William Barr,  President Donald Trump proclaimed that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings were “a complete and total exoneration” of him, and that there’s no evidence of collusion or obstruction. Only the president’s claim about collusion is accurate, based on the letter released by the Department of Justice.

But during the nearly two years of the Mueller investigation, Trump made many claims, and so did other politicians. The way partisans on all sides talked about the investigation, accurate or not, shaped the way Americans think about it. Jennifer Mercieca, associate professor of communication at Texas A&M University specializes in political discourse. She says that all that amounts to a cycle of propaganda. 

Merceica says many believe propaganda is a relic of the past, but that it’s very much a present-day political tool.

“It would be a big mistake to think that this is not an era of propaganda. Because, in fact, it is,” Mercieca says.

What you’ll hear in this segment:

How understanding propaganda can help those trying to make sense of the way politicians talk about the Mueller investigation

– What the term “meme war” has to do with politics and propaganda

– How the public – often unwittingly – participates in spreading propaganda

Written by Caroline Covington.