Fact Checking Controversy

On September 10, 2024, former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris faced off in their first debate, where Trump falsely claimed that Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Ohio.

Post debate, this clip has become both a meme and a source of alarm for Americans. The Hawk’s Eye spoke to the School to learn more about the community’s perspectives. Christiana Cuellar, co-leader of the Civics Space, says her goal is to “Take in new information with an objective lens…so just asking, ‘Does this make sense to me?’.” After researching online, Cuellar concluded that the claim was “More gossip than fact.” Morgan Guzman, the other leader of Civics Space, echoes this statement. She holds that “Every source has a truth in it, but the function of that truth [and] the way it’s conveyed” can lead to dangerous beliefs within its audience.

Similarly, Cuellar urges media consumers to remember that any news story is “Both information and story,” and to be aware of the messages that news outlets may be passing on to their audience. Dr. Guz has witnessed students around campus joking about Trump’s claim and understands why they’re doing that: “It’s an absurd story; it’s kind of funny,” she admits. However, she also knows that these sorts of comments can also hold an air of gravity. “There’s a lot of humor around that line… but for me, I immediately recognized it as a racist dog whistle.”

Knowing the topic well, senior Hayes Caruana, co-president of the Politics Club, became interested in politics during the 2016 election, wanting to learn more about why Trump was such a divisive candidate, and has kept up since. “The more I learn, the more I want to know even more, and now I want to be a political science major. It’s inspired what I want to do with my life,” he reflects. Mirroring Guz’s comment, Caruana has noticed his peers “Writing off [Trump’s claim] in a humorous way,” but notes, “There’s also a concerning underlying factor that this claim is needing to be disproven.” For many, Trump’s claim has been indicative of a larger pattern of conspiracy theories gaining more traction in mainstream circles. Dr. Guz credits this in part to younger generations. “The appeal of conspiracy theory is that they’re alluring, they’re exciting, they’re kind of fun to follow, and I worry that among the youth, there’s a playful engagement in conspiracy theory,” she says.

“While many youth may write off these concerns, Cuellar urges us to think, “If I’m giving something attention, am I also lending it some kind of authority?” Dr. Guz also places more emphasis on our responsibility as a community: “The soil has to be fertile enough for those seeds to bloom, so I think [Trump] is a seed, but we are fertile soil for those types of strategies to really be effective,” She says on our complicity in misinformation.

How can the School stay engaged and educated? Cuellar tells students, “I’m not the gatekeeper of all that’s right or all that there is to know on these topics, but I am someone who can walk with you while you’re trying to educate yourself,” and holds that the library will always support truth.