“Will Trump’s false election claims gain steam? Disinformation experts weigh in.”

Whitney Phillips, assistant professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arms, was quoted in The Guardian story “Will Trump’s false election claims gain steam? Disinformation experts weigh in.” Phillips, an expert on misinformation and social media, believes that Donald Trump’s inability to denounce conspiracy theories has led many of his supporters to question the election if Trump does not win. “In the past few months, Trump started using the deep state by name; he started specifically engaging with and embracing QAnon. That underlying frame – ‘don’t trust “them”’ – was the groundwork for his efforts to contest the election,” says Phillips.