The trust-nothing election
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Brace yourself for a new, scary dynamic in American politics: the trust-nothing era.
Why it matters: Two new trends are about to unfold in real time.
1. Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson are joining forces, each warning that you should trust nothing outside of Twitter.
- Carlson announced via a video on Twitter Tuesday that "starting soon" he'll be "bringing a new version of the show" he's been doing at Fox News to Twitter.
- Musk said he and Carlson "have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever." But Axios learned they've discussed working together.
2. The brains behind generative AI warned administration officials during a recent White House meeting of an imminent explosion of highly convincing and manipulative fake videos and stories in the run-up to the 2024 election.
- Think fake news on steroids — and lighting up your screen.
What we're watching: You'll hear powerful voices on Twitter and other platforms imploring people to assume that everything from mainstream media is a lie. And authentic, computer-generated lies will give everyone reason to trust nothing.
- "At the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie — a lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind," Carlson said in a video announcing he plans to relaunch his show on Twitter. "Facts have been withheld on purpose along with proportion and perspective. You are being manipulated."
- "Trust nothing, not even nothing," Musk tweeted Tuesday.
Reality check: Twitter itself is likely to be ground zero for the spread of AI-generated fakes and lies.
- The mainstream media, which has studied up on misinformation over the past two elections, will be the first and best line of defense against those lies.
The big picture: Compared to the rest of the world, Americans are already much more skeptical of what they see on social media and what they're told by traditional media outlets.
- These emerging trends will intensify existing levels of record distrust.
What's next: As a trust gap widens, Americans will turn to unconventional sources to navigate an increasingly complicated world.
- Across both major political parties, more Americans are turning to their employers and business leaders for trusted information.
