Fake news has been elevated from the politics of personal destruction to a weapon of political assassination.
In 1989 Senator John Tower was nominated for Secretary of Defense. The day the debate on Tower’s nomination began in the Senate, Bob Woodward’s article entitled, “Incidents at Defense Base Cited, Drunkenness, Harassment of Women Alleged” appeared on the front page of the Washington Post. Bob Woodward reported that informed sources claimed Tower had been drunk at Bergstrom Air Force Base. Tower was not confirmed and the next day it was revealed that Woodward’s source was discharged from the Air Force for psychiatric reasons. Another story used against him was that he danced naked on a grand piano with his mistress, a Russian ballerina. This was reported by Leslie Stahl on CBS even though the FBI had reported they had reason to believe it was not true. Sen. Ted Kennedy told students at Yale University that he was “troubled” by reports that John Tower drank excessively and made improper advances toward women.