An ominous farewell
President Joe Biden made a big strategic choice with his farewell address. “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation,” he warned on Wednesday night. “Social media is giving up on fact-checking. … We must hold the social platforms accountable to protect our children, our families and our very democracy from the abuse of power.”
This week, those dangers are playing out in real time.
California is battling one of the worst wildfires in its history. More than 100,000 people have been displaced, and thousands of homes, schools and community buildings have been destroyed. The recovery efforts will take months, if not years. But Gov. Gavin Newsom faces an additional, insidious challenge: rampant misinformation. Social media platforms, including one owned by Donald Trump’s bestie (and former California resident) Elon Musk, have been flooded with falsehoods about the state’s water systems and fire response.
I spoke with Newsom this week, and his frustration was clear: “What’s not helpful or beneficial,” he said, “is these wild-eyed fantasies … that somehow there’s a magical spigot in Northern California that just can be turned on, and all of a sudden there will be rain or water flowing everywhere. It’s not helpful.”
The damage caused by misinformation extends far beyond California’s borders. And under our next president, it’s likely going to get worse.
Many tech CEOs, including TikTok’s, have been given front-row seats (or whatever the equivalent may be in the Capitol rotunda) at Trump’s inauguration. This is a clear sign of how closely this administration plans to align with Silicon Valley. Musk remains an outlier in some ways, but the Trump administration has already started a race to the bottom as far as fact-checking is concerned.
Meta is ending its fact-checking program to adopt a “community notes” system, similar to X. And according to Axios, Google has told the European Union it will not add fact checks to search results, despite a new E.U. law requiring it.
California’s wildfires are a stark reminder of the stakes of unchecked misinformation. The question now is how far companies will go as they seek to please Trump.
A story you should be following: The Senate’s breezy confirmation hearings
Trump’s Cabinet picks are racing through their Senate confirmation hearings this week, despite glaring flaws in many of their records. Democrats are doing their best to expose the red flags — whether it’s Pete Hegseth’s alleged history of misconduct or Chris Wright standing by his comments in 2024 that concerns over wildfires were just “hype” to justify climate policies. But today’s GOP-controlled Senate means these controversial picks are likely to be confirmed. And it’s not hard to figure out why.
As Trump ally Charlie Kirk wrote on X on Tuesday afternoon: “If anyone in the Senate GOP votes against confirming Pete Hegseth after his stellar performance today, there will be a primary challenge waiting for you.”
If anyone in the Senate GOP votes against confirming Pete Hegseth after his stellar performance today, there will be a primary challenge waiting for you. You can take that to the bank.
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— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 14, 2025
Even Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, a veteran who has dedicated much of her career to ending sexual assault in the military, now seems to have fallen in line. Ernst told Iowa’s WHO News Radio 1040 after the hearing that she plans to vote for his confirmation, paving the way for other GOP senators to follow suit.
It’s a pattern we’re seeing across the board.
By flooding the zone with picks who are unqualified or controversial, Trump makes it nearly impossible for Democrats — or even skeptical Republicans — to focus their opposition effectively. The result? A mostly rubber-stamp process that puts loyalty to Trump above competence.
While dates have yet to be set for hearings on some of the most contentious picks, including Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the playbook is already clear. The successful intimidation of Republicans who dared to hint at skepticism over Hegseth has set the tone.
Another story you should be following: What is happening to TikTok?
On Friday morning the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law banning TikTok, which is set to go into effect on Jan. 19. But there’s still some ambiguity here because Biden’s administration likely won’t enforce the ban in its final hours, and Trump’s opinion on the situation is a bit unclear. The app may not be immediately removed from existing users’ phones, but new users presumably won’t be able to download it from app stores and updates will not be available.
To everyone who enjoyed our content on TikTok, you can still see our clips on Instagram. But as someone who is also figuring out what might come next… I honestly have no idea. But I’ll see you on whatever platform is to come.
Jen Psaki is the host of "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" airing Tuesdays through Fridays at 9 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden.
