“Truth Buried by Lies:” The Serious Side of Joe Biden’s “Dark Brandon” Speech

Joe Biden, WH photo

United States President Joe Biden ended his speech at the April 29, 2023 White House Dinner by slipping on a pair of sunglasses and joking about “Dark Brandon.” In between the first part of the speech, which told a series of political jokes, some tasteful and some not, and the concluding sunglasses, the president made a serious point about journalism. His point was a moral one. Dark Brandon did not tell the correspondents to get better at critical thinking. He told them, and the nation at large, to get better at honesty.

As our political world is increasingly dominated by conspiracy theories and wild accusations, too many members of the public begin to wonder what is real and what is not, which sources are trustworthy, and which are not. Too often, people responded exactly the way the liars prefer: we became cynical about everyone—including the people who are telling the truth. In a world spinning with lies and mistrust, we find ourselves unable or, more likely, unwilling, to sort out what is real from what is outrageously false. This is not just a matter of critical thinking: it’s being willing to think. It’s a matter of being willing to accept the truth of things we don’t like. It’s a matter of being prepared to face truth, and to realize the truth is better than error.

So, Biden warned that falsehood was dominating the United States’ political discourse:

“As I said last year at this dinner, a poison is running through our democracy and parts of the extreme press. The truth buried by lies, and lies living on as truth.

“Lies told for profit and power. Lies of conspiracy and malice repeated over and over again, designed to generate a cycle of anger, hate, and even violence. A cycle that emboldens history to be buried, books to be banned, children and families to be attacked by the state, and the rule of law and our rights and freedoms to be stripped away. And where elected representatives of the people are expelled from statehouses for standing for the people. (Applause.)”

Indeed, the recent Fox News-Dominion lawsuit uncovered massive evidence that Fox News hosts knew perfectly well the Democrats did not steal the 2020 election, but reported otherwise because it was profitable to tell lies. The Fox News debacle, however, is only the latest in a long, dishonorable string of anti-communication events. State and local officials throughout conservative areas have embarked on a massive, disgraceful effort to remove books about civil rights from school shelves.

Students of persuasion have known for centuries that credibility is by far the most powerful tool that a speaker can wield. Yet, the underlying theme of cospiracy theories is not to establish credibility, but the opposite: to delegitimize the idea of truth. To destroy the very concept of credibility. We live in a world in which a majority, not a mere fringe, of Republican voters continue to endorse the ridiculous lie that the 2020 election was stolen from them. As absurd accusations and wild conspiracy theories swirl around like killer hornets, people begin to wonder whether anyone can be trusted. More insidiously, they begin to wonder whether maybe the truth is in the middle, that maybe some portion of the conspiracy theories might have some validity. In what is sometimes called "bothsidesism," people move toward a soggy middle ground where truth and lies live in balance. People begin to think that the middle, the moderate view, is to believe some truths and some lies. That only seems fair, I guess. That, really, is the ultimate danger. After all, a constitutional republic depends, above all else, on a functioning flow of information. 

This is a moral issue, not just a political question. It is not just a question of whether we do or do not know how to engage in critical thinking. No, it’s a question of whether we are willing to engage in critical thinking. Are we willing to step up and distinguish between truth and falsehood? Are we prepared to reject ridiculous but comfortable lies? Are we willing to recognize other people’s rights as equal to our own?

So, Dark Brandon called out extreme forces in politics and the media alike who spread falsehoods and suppress knowledge. Ultimately, it all needs to come down to us, the citizens of the United States of America, does it not? Can we welcome truth even if it does not support a particular perspective; can we open our eyes and minds to knowledge that makes us feel uncomfortable? Using the bully pulpit, the rhetorical power of the presidency, Biden put on the dark glasses, but asked us to take off our blinders. He reminded the assembled journalists that there is a difference between truth and falsehood. Of all our rights, the rights that make a constitutional republic possible, by far the most important is the interchange of ideas. If the news media fail us, where else can we go?


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