1. United States
2. Neb.
3. Letter

Dear Congressman Bacon, Thank you for your email regarding your support for the Stop HATE Act. I’m encouraged to see your acknowledgment of the serious threats that disinformation and online extremism pose to our nation’s safety and democratic integrity. Given this commitment, I must ask: Will you also be holding President Donald Trump accountable for his prolific role in spreading disinformation? As you may know, fact-checkers across the political spectrum have documented a deeply troubling pattern: • Over 30,000 false or misleading statements were made by Mr. Trump during his presidency, averaging 21 per day according to The Washington Post. • At a single 64-minute press event in 2024, NPR tallied 162 misstatements, exaggerations, or lies—about 2.5 per minute. • These patterns continue on social media, where independent analyses show Mr. Trump frequently repeats disproven claims and inflammatory falsehoods with clear intent to mislead. If your goal is truly to combat hate and disinformation, that work cannot be selective. The volume, frequency, and documented repetition of falsehoods from Mr. Trump—often tied to real-world harm—demand the same scrutiny you propose applying to anonymous online actors. Will you apply the same standards of truth and accountability to him? Your leadership on this issue will carry far more weight if it includes the courage to confront disinformation wherever it comes from—including from within your own party.