John AllisonApr 30, 2023
PadreSJ

My mom texts me that Tucker Carlson was fired b/c pharmaceutical companies pressured Fox to get rid of him b/c he was telling the truth about how vaccines kill people.

...

She is an intelligent, educated woman who has seen and accomplished much in her life

And 20 years of watching nothing but Fox News has turned her into a MAGA conspiracy theorist.

THIS is why I hate Fox News and MAGA... it's personal.

Apr 25, 2023 at 10:15pmWeb
Show threadDave Wilburn Apr 25, 2023
@PadreSJ my mom passed away away a year and a half ago, and I spent a lot of time with her in the months leading up to her passing. I cherish those months, but the fact that she basically consumed nothing but Fox News 24x7 made it really difficult to have a conversation with her about almost anything. I'm so angry with them for peddling these lies and robbing me of the time I had left with my mother.
Show threadPadreSJApr 26, 2023
@DaveMWilburn ☹️
Show threadCatherine SchmidtApr 27, 2023
@DaveMWilburn @PadreSJ 😿 ultimately I have to remind myself that is all fear based. It is a primal response that makes them easily manipulated.
Show threadKevin Lloyd Apr 25, 2023

@PadreSJ Fox News is truly horrible. I’m truly sorry to hear they affected your Mom like that.

Damn right it’s personal.

I live in the Texas of Canada (Alberta). I’m grateful my Mom doesn’t watch the news or want to know what’s happening in the world.

Show threadBinder🅅Apr 25, 2023

@PadreSJ I'm so sorry. Sometimes family is hard... but they are family.

I've got the same problems with my family. Best wishes and luck to you.

Show threadInfosec V'gerApr 25, 2023
@PadreSJ I’m very sorry. That sucks.
Show threadJoe EspositoApr 26, 2023

@PadreSJ I know the feeling. My mother isn't quite over the line into Conspiracyville yet, but I feel like I'm constantly racing just ahead of the latest chain email, Facebook post, or text from someone with purely garbage info.

It's terrible to hear an otherwise caring and smart person parroting viewpoints that don't stand up to even the SLIGHTEST scrutiny.

Still, my parents busted their humps to keep me fed, sheltered, and educated. If this effort is the bill for a great childhood, so be it.

Show threadTerrorskullApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ I feel that. Wish there was an easy fix to deprogram this propaganda, but their tentacles are in deep after all of that time.
Show threadMusta dawned on me thuslyApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ me too. There’s no salvaging them from the echo chamber. They love it in there.
Show threadGoldenrevApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ thank you for sharing a “real life story” of how Fox News has influenced people… it really brings that reality home. So sorry that that has happened to her and to you…
Show threadSpam FodderApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ they're a test case for that "love your brother" bullshit: even these assholes? yep.
Show threadAppagal CrochetApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ As a member of GenX I am not sure how I did not fall down the rabbit hole of conspiracy nuts. I was the odd duck in HS but now I am kinda glad of it.
Show threadGJ Groothedde 🇪🇺Apr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ I'm so sorry to hear this.
Show threadKapoApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ fkn tragic
Show threadBlueintheSouthApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ my aunt stopped watching after my uncle died of COVID
Show threadJames DeVolApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ My brother, too...sad...
Show threadMike MattatallApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ Older folks are sadly particularly vulnerable to misinformation. They come from an era where you COULD trust that what the guy on the news was telling you was the truth and was factual.
Show threadMikeOhYeahThatMikeApr 26, 2023

@PadreSJ
Sincere question since I have close family in about the same boat: what do you do about it?

Dad and I don't discuss hot button topics I think because we both are afraid of how it would go. If I really dig in on something and tried to convince him it's hard to imagine anything but an argument ensuing ... But maybe that's just the wrong approach?

Show threadChadariusApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ I feel you. I have relatives that have had their brains scooped out by Faux Bewbs. They are people that I love and that I used to respect and look up to. I can't even be in the same room as them now. It is so sad. This is not who they are and they can't see it as the descend into complete madness.
Show threadTeaceratops/GameDev MumApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ this is exactly how I feel about the Daily Mail. My dad is exactly the same - university education, worked in local government, but will believe the wildest, most infuriating stuff. I am so sorry you’re also dealing with this. It is indeed as personal as it gets.
Show threadChris WilliamsApr 26, 2023

@PadreSJ

What's really baffling is that not only are you the son that they love, you're also part of the church that they also love. Yet a bunch of propagandists who definitely don't have their best interests at heart, somehow to seem to have more credibility with them than their own flesh and blood.

Did you see the 2015 documentary "The Brainwashing of My Dad?"

https://youtu.be/FS52QdHNTh8

The Brain Washing of My Dad (Family Non-Ficton Film) | Real Stories

YouTube
Show threadEagle Globe & FlankerApr 26, 2023
@PadreSJ i knew a 90 something woman still in great mental/emotional health, unfortunately though, watched fox all day and night and she really thought trump was being "set up"🤦
Show threadJedigal007Apr 27, 2023

@PadreSJ

Same with my brother, a retired physician who watched Fox for decades, now prefers Newsmax and OANN. I hardly recognize him anymore. I often wonder if and when there will be a class action lawsuit against Fox by family members bereft by the harm they’ve caused to family members

Show threadArmy GirlApr 27, 2023
@PadreSJ it's so sad. I know exactly what you mean.
Show threadPNW DebApr 27, 2023
@PadreSJ I’m so sorry. They ruined my dad as well.
Show threadCatherine SchmidtApr 27, 2023
@PadreSJ you are not alone….my twin brother and husband have been poisoned by FOX
Show threadMell's BellsApr 27, 2023
@PadreSJ I can relate. Sorry about your mom.
Show threadJanetteSpeyerApr 27, 2023
@PadreSJ I have met do many intelligent people that watch FOX and I am shocked by the things they believe
Show threadMustrideorskiApr 27, 2023
@PadreSJ - same here. 😢
Show threadNia MolinariApr 28, 2023
@PadreSJ I feel you. I wish I could sue them for fucking up my family members.
Show threadOakmarieApr 28, 2023
@PadreSJ Many of us can relate. When we visited my mother-in-law in her care home, we would mess with her remote so FOX was hard to find. She would complain to staff after we left that her TV was broken. At least she had a few hrs without that hateful stuff pouring into her brain.
Show threadニルス・スキニールApr 30, 2023
@PadreSJ Sorry about this. I have two sisters who are much the same - one taken by insane religion and the other by MAGA/Fox. We do not communicate anymore - not by my choice.
Show threadSt Joan 🌈of Mastodon:🦘 SaintApr 30, 2023

@PadreSJ

Paragraph 2 is proven to be rubbish via paragraph 3. Also par 2 contains a grammatical error due to tense.

She may have been what you said. Watching shit on TV is a choice. Channels are choice.

Apologies but sometimes brutal honesty needs to be a thing and making excuses for people's bad choices doesn't hold water IMHO.

🙂🦘

Show threadItoshi no FoxyDonutsApr 30, 2023
@PadreSJ I want to redo that 80s "This is your brain on drugs" anti drug as but replace drugs with Fox etc... They knowing fwd heroin to our parents, got them addicted, and now they demand fentanyl.
Show threadBc Clarity Carlton-MartinApr 30, 2023
@PadreSJ When I told my late mother who BillO really was, she stopped watching but it was too late for her. She died in 2013
Show threadeinfeldtApr 30, 2023
@PadreSJ Wait, which vaccines kill people? I haven't heard any credible evidence to support this claim. Also, Tucker Carlson has never spoken a true word on air to my knowledge.
Show threadMysticalWolfApr 30, 2023
@PadreSJ My grandma sadly was already like that. And wants to go back to the "good ol days"