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Chamath Palihapitiya: I Was "Red-Pilled" When Media Lied About Charlottesville
RealClearPolitics ^ | January 28, 2026 | Tim Hains

Posted on 01/31/2026 9:06:12 AM PST by MinorityRepublican

Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya told the "Katie Miller Podcast" that his journey from Democratic Party mega-donor to Trump-supporting podcaster began after the "fine people hoax" where mainstream media cast President Trump's response to the 2017 Charlottesville riot as support for Nazi murderers.

"I was basically like everybody else and pretty brainwashed. My media diet was very much the same as everybody else," he said. "I had a perception of Donald Trump initially from the moment he walked down the staircase in Trump Tower to announce. And then over the course of six or seven years, I realized that some of those fundamental things I was told about him were totally false."

"I saw what he said, and then I saw the portrayal. I had originally believed that portrayal until I saw the truth. Then I started to go down that rabbit hole."

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...


TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: bias; mediabias

1 posted on 01/31/2026 9:06:12 AM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: MinorityRepublican
"I was basically like everybody else stupid and pretty brainwashed."
2 posted on 01/31/2026 9:17:58 AM PST by mikey_hates_everything
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To: MinorityRepublican

I have heard several people say the same thing. That one event and the media’s lies about it had some people taking a look at other things the media said about Trump. When they found lie after lie they started changing the way they thought about the media, Trump, and Trump supporters.


3 posted on 01/31/2026 9:48:25 AM PST by CFW
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To: CFW

4 posted on 01/31/2026 10:32:36 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: CFW

Bill Murray stated on The Joe Rogan Experience that reading just five pages of Bob Woodward’s 1984 book Wired: The Short Life & Fast Times of John Belushi led him to question whether Woodward had “framed” Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Murray, a close friend of Belushi, criticized the book as “completely inaccurate,” arguing that Woodward relied on sources outside Belushi’s inner circle. He said the portrayal of his friend was so flawed that it made him doubt the integrity of Woodward’s Watergate reporting, famously declaring, “Oh my God. They framed Nixon.”


5 posted on 01/31/2026 1:12:15 PM PST by Chickensoup
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To: MinorityRepublican

.


6 posted on 01/31/2026 6:08:27 PM PST by redinIllinois (Pro-life, accountant, gun-totin' Grandma - multi issue voter I'm)
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To: CFW

“I have heard several people say the same thing.”

Like Brandon Straka. DESPISED Trump because MSM said he was making fun of disabled people the way he gestured with his hands and arms.

Then it was his old babysitter (IIRC) who told him to watch Trump’s typical mannerisms when he speaks. He did and realized what was true. Asked himself what ELSE the media was lying about, and researched on his own.

He was so pissed and red-pilled that he started the very effective WalkAway movement.


7 posted on 01/31/2026 6:25:43 PM PST by MayflowerMadam ( "Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away". - B. Franklin)
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To: Chickensoup

Wow. That’s interesting.


8 posted on 01/31/2026 6:26:48 PM PST by MayflowerMadam ( "Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away". - B. Franklin)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; BraveMan; cardinal4; ...

9 posted on 01/31/2026 7:43:27 PM PST by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
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To: Chickensoup

Whoa! That’s pretty interesting. May have to go watch that.


10 posted on 01/31/2026 7:45:32 PM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: MinorityRepublican
Then I saw it. I saw what he said, and then I saw the portrayal. I had originally believed that portrayal until I saw the truth. Then I started to go down that rabbit hole. For me, it was an evolution where I was like, I can’t believe I’m being lied to by this group of people whose sole responsibility is to hold truth to power. The key word there is truth—not your perception or your desires. That red-pilled me, I guess, in a way.

The liberal lying press doesn't have complete power anymore - enough truth gets out that people begin to see the lies - and that's enough to red pill them. Thank God for people willing to evaluate new information...

11 posted on 02/01/2026 9:22:53 AM PST by GOPJ (Trump's a Rorschach: for good or ill people see thier hidden selves in him. Protector? Bully? Savior)
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