Study: Debunking Trump makes his voter base believe his lies even more

A new study published in the Harvard Kennedy School’s Misinformation Review found that fact-checks of lies from Donald Trump are more likely to make his diehard supporters believe in his falsehoods.

Researchers showed people Twitter (now X) posts from Trump that feature lies about election fraud, along with a note that said his claims were “disputed.”

“Trump voters with high political knowledge judged election misinformation as more truthful when Trump’s claims included Twitter’s disputed tags compared to a control condition,” the report revealed.

The study, conducted by University of Minnesota Duluth professor John Blanchar and Swarthmore College professor Catherine Norris, surveyed 1,078 Americans in late 2020.

Blanchar told The Guardian, “Instead of having no impact, the tags seemed counterproductive, reinforcing misinformation among this group.”