The babylon bee
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This is especially true in articles about Trump, such as this one, which compares Trump’s 2021 CPAC appearance to Jesus Christ’s biblical arrival to Jerusalem: Readers in the more closed-off, conspiracy-prone bubble can read this and agree with the depiction of Trump as a divine political savior, whereas the never-Trump crowd can find humor in Trump’s cultlike following and the ridiculousness of the depiction of Trump as any kind of messianic figure. In my research on the Bee, I have found that the site is adept at writing ironically ambiguous material that lets audiences from different sections of the right reinforce their own beliefs. While better described as satire than misinformation, the Babylon Bee is certainly not fighting the spread of misinformation. Think You’re Smarter Than Slate’s Copy Chief? Find Out With This End-of-Year News Quiz. We are assured.Parent Hits Biden With “Let’s Go, Brandon” Insult During Christmas Eve Call With Childrenĭad Who Said “Let’s Go Brandon” to Biden on Santa Tracker Call Insists It Was a “Joke”Īirlines Cancel Thousands of Flights Over Christmas Weekend Amid Omicron Surge Judging by his latest tweet, it’s unclear whether he actually knows the Babylon Bee is intended as satire, though the website’s editor-in-chief recently told the New York Times, “He does know it’s satire. Ted Cruz and Trump himself, who shared a Babylon Bee story as recently as last month. The site has resonated with right-wing figures like Sen. Its most popular posts poke fun at perceived liberal ideology and political correctness, and many are explicitly misogynistic or transphobic. A June article with the headline “Chick-Fil-A Now Open On Sunday But Only For Black People” attracted widespread criticism when many in the Christian community accused it of perpetuating racist stereotypes in the name of “satire.” (The Babylon Bee refused to issue an apology for the article.) Does Trump Know It’s Satire? Its posts regularly go viral on Facebook (despite Facebook occasionally incorrectly flagging it as intentional misinformation rather than satire), and according to the New York Times it attracts about 8 million visitors a month. To that end, t he Babylon Bee has been something of a social media phenomenon on the right. “We’re not trying to be a fair, objective site that equally makes fun of everyone.” “The things we see as most absurd, the bad ideas most deserving of ridicule tend to be ideas on the left,” said the site’s chief executive, Seth Dillon. The Babylon Bee initially started out as something of an equal opportunity offender, but over the past four years the Babylon Bee has evolved into a more explicitly anti-left, pro-Trump publication.
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(Outraged conservatives launched a #FreeTheBee campaign, prompting Twitter to reverse its decision and issue an apology.) Is Babylon Bee Pro-Trump? Facebook has erroneously flagged it as misinformation thanks to the fact-checking website Snopes, and Twitter temporarily suspended and demonetized the Babylon Bee’s account for violating rules about platform manipulation and spam. Ford eventually sold the site to a Christian entrepreneur named Seth Dillon in 2018, citing in part his discomfort with “Facebook and Google a practical duopoly on information.” Indeed, although the Babylon Bee is explicit about its satirical bent, describing itself as “the world’s best satire site, totally inerrant in all its truth claims,” it has had a complicated relationship with the platforms.