T. Kenny Fountain
@tkennyfountain.bsky.social
Associate Professor of English, UVA. Scholar of rhetoric (old & current), studying conspiracy theory belief, disinformation, extremism, and visual media. Writing a book, Imagining Conspiracy Theories.
Pinned
Project MUSE - Presencing, Immersion, and Community: How Conspiracy Theory Belief Is Kindled Online
muse.jhu.edu
To all new followers, I'm a scholar of rhetoric who studies conspiracy theories and extremism. Writing a book, Imaging Conspiracy Theories. Most recent work is this co-authored article. "Presencing, Immersion, and Community: How Conspiracy Theory Belief Is Kindled Online" muse.jhu.edu/article/949121
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
The president has illegally declared war to stop fentanyl trafficking from a country that does not traffic that drug, claiming its leader is trafficking drugs himself, the day after pardoning a former leader of a country who is a convicted drug trafficker.
Just to level set
Just to level set
November 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
The president has illegally declared war to stop fentanyl trafficking from a country that does not traffic that drug, claiming its leader is trafficking drugs himself, the day after pardoning a former leader of a country who is a convicted drug trafficker.
Just to level set
Just to level set
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
The power of near-realtime data: Our NoteTracker Dashboard currently shows that only a small fraction [10.9%] of Community Notes are visible on X. In comparison, an overwhelming majority [89.1%] of proposed Community Notes are not yet visible (based on 1741011 notes). notetracker.socialmedialab.ca
NoteTracker Dashboard
A Searchable Database of Community Notes on X
notetracker.socialmedialab.ca
November 30, 2025 at 12:52 PM
The power of near-realtime data: Our NoteTracker Dashboard currently shows that only a small fraction [10.9%] of Community Notes are visible on X. In comparison, an overwhelming majority [89.1%] of proposed Community Notes are not yet visible (based on 1741011 notes). notetracker.socialmedialab.ca
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
This would be funny if it wasn't also so dangerous ... "White House launches website to excoriate media for ‘biased’ stories" www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
White House launches website to excoriate media for ‘biased’ stories
Trump administration lists reporting it objects to in latest escalation of attacks on US journalism
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:37 AM
This would be funny if it wasn't also so dangerous ... "White House launches website to excoriate media for ‘biased’ stories" www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
Would be a bit awkward given that the Trump administration has condemned millions of people with AIDS to death through their USAID cuts
The State Department has warned employees not to use government funds to mark Dec. 1 as World AIDS Day and to “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels.” nyti.ms/3KhPDrA
Trump Administration Will No Longer Commemorate World AIDS Day
The State Department warned employees not to use government funds for the occasion and to “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels.”
nyti.ms
November 30, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Would be a bit awkward given that the Trump administration has condemned millions of people with AIDS to death through their USAID cuts
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
How it started / How it’s going
November 30, 2025 at 12:49 AM
How it started / How it’s going
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
"Homelessness today isn't just the person sleeping outside a Walmart. It's often the cashier or worker stocking the shelves inside."
I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
November 29, 2025 at 11:54 PM
"Homelessness today isn't just the person sleeping outside a Walmart. It's often the cashier or worker stocking the shelves inside."
I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
I joined @pbsnews.org to talk about There Is No Place for Us and the staggering rise of the "working homeless":
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
1) Inflammatory claims about health care without supporting evidence will result in deaths.
2) Sadly, since extremist anti-science ideologues took over our FDA, its claims have lost all credibility.
3) Over 1,300 children died of COVID itself (NOT the vaccine), during Aug. 2021–Jul. 2022 alone.
2) Sadly, since extremist anti-science ideologues took over our FDA, its claims have lost all credibility.
3) Over 1,300 children died of COVID itself (NOT the vaccine), during Aug. 2021–Jul. 2022 alone.
Internal memo at the FDA claims 10 deaths in children as a result of Covid vaccines — but does not include data
Explosive story by @by-cjewett.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/h...
Explosive story by @by-cjewett.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/h...
F.D.A. Attributes 10 Children’s Deaths to Covid Vaccines
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:00 PM
1) Inflammatory claims about health care without supporting evidence will result in deaths.
2) Sadly, since extremist anti-science ideologues took over our FDA, its claims have lost all credibility.
3) Over 1,300 children died of COVID itself (NOT the vaccine), during Aug. 2021–Jul. 2022 alone.
2) Sadly, since extremist anti-science ideologues took over our FDA, its claims have lost all credibility.
3) Over 1,300 children died of COVID itself (NOT the vaccine), during Aug. 2021–Jul. 2022 alone.
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
Marjorie Taylor Greene built a career on QAnon, on conspiracy, defiance, and rage. Then, live on national television, she said she’d been “misled” about the movement, disavowing it and claiming she was a victim of it.
open.substack.com/pub/theintel...
open.substack.com/pub/theintel...
November 29, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Marjorie Taylor Greene built a career on QAnon, on conspiracy, defiance, and rage. Then, live on national television, she said she’d been “misled” about the movement, disavowing it and claiming she was a victim of it.
open.substack.com/pub/theintel...
open.substack.com/pub/theintel...
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
Personally, I think it's a bad thing when people in the government post AI images without disclosing that they're AI.
Image on the left is something RFK Jr. posted today. Image on the right is a photo from 2024.
Image on the left is something RFK Jr. posted today. Image on the right is a photo from 2024.
November 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Personally, I think it's a bad thing when people in the government post AI images without disclosing that they're AI.
Image on the left is something RFK Jr. posted today. Image on the right is a photo from 2024.
Image on the left is something RFK Jr. posted today. Image on the right is a photo from 2024.
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
This is who we're deporting while we're importing sex traffickers like the Tate brothers and white supremacists who are nostalgic for Apartheid.
I feel much safer today knowing that we deported a Babson College student back to a country where she hasn't lived since childhood.
She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
A Babson College student wanted to surprise her family for Thanksgiving. She was deported instead. - The Boston Globe
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza was at Logan to catch a flight to Texas when immigration authorities detained her as she was about to board the plane.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:58 PM
This is who we're deporting while we're importing sex traffickers like the Tate brothers and white supremacists who are nostalgic for Apartheid.
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
US military action in Venezuela seems imminent as Americans are distracted by Thanksgiving.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/p...
Trump administration formally designates Venezuela’s Maduro as member of a foreign terrorist organization | CNN Politics
The Trump administration could have expanded authority to take action in Venezuela starting Monday, as the US designates Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his government allies as members of a f...
www.cnn.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:27 AM
US military action in Venezuela seems imminent as Americans are distracted by Thanksgiving.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/24/p...
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
"But with revelations about Mr. Trump’s relationship to Mr. Epstein mounting, the default QAnon position has become that Mr. Epstein just isn’t that interesting anymore." - @willsommer.bsky.social
Opinion | Why the Epstein Story Is So Awkward for QAnon
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:52 AM
"But with revelations about Mr. Trump’s relationship to Mr. Epstein mounting, the default QAnon position has become that Mr. Epstein just isn’t that interesting anymore." - @willsommer.bsky.social
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
somehow i don't think president harris would be launching an explicit war for oil
Rep. Salazar on Venezuela: "We're about to go in ... we need to go in ... Venezuela for the American oil companies will be a field day"
November 24, 2025 at 9:55 PM
somehow i don't think president harris would be launching an explicit war for oil
It seems that X has already disabled the location feature that identified where users's were located. Not at all suspicious.
November 23, 2025 at 10:30 PM
It seems that X has already disabled the location feature that identified where users's were located. Not at all suspicious.
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
X rolled out a new feature overnight showing where accounts are based. This network of “Trump-supporting independent women” that claimed to be “real Americans” are based in Thailand.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
November 23, 2025 at 12:55 PM
X rolled out a new feature overnight showing where accounts are based. This network of “Trump-supporting independent women” that claimed to be “real Americans” are based in Thailand.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
In her video announcement that she is resigning from Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks directly to the QAnon community. 1/4
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/21/m...
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/21/m...
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will resign after fallout with Trump
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene supported a bill compelling the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the DOJ, putting her on the bad side of President Trump.
www.cnbc.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:55 PM
In her video announcement that she is resigning from Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks directly to the QAnon community. 1/4
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/21/m...
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/21/m...
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
AOC to @pabloreports.bsky.social : A swastika is one of the clearest symbols of hatred in all of humanity… to remove that designation… indicates a possible collaboration with those very elements, which I think is genuinely frightening to any American.
November 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
AOC to @pabloreports.bsky.social : A swastika is one of the clearest symbols of hatred in all of humanity… to remove that designation… indicates a possible collaboration with those very elements, which I think is genuinely frightening to any American.
Excellent thread by @eliothiggins.bsky.social that pinpoints the failure of Yarvin's hollow ideology.
I watched Yarvin’s Sheldonian lecture. What struck me is that he’s describing real institutional failures, but he completely misdiagnoses the cause. He treats “democracy” as the problem, when the actual collapse is upstream.
See also Curtis Yarvin's remarks in a recent Oxford lecture:
"Say what you want about MBS, he's quite an effective king I think in a lot of different ways. Um love the Ritz thing, the whole Saudi embassy thing, I don't know, but I mean he was a journalist". [Giggles]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXYl...
"Say what you want about MBS, he's quite an effective king I think in a lot of different ways. Um love the Ritz thing, the whole Saudi embassy thing, I don't know, but I mean he was a journalist". [Giggles]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXYl...
November 20, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Excellent thread by @eliothiggins.bsky.social that pinpoints the failure of Yarvin's hollow ideology.
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
Huge @tinanguyen.bsky.social scoop: Trump is preparing to try and ban all state AI laws, going so far as having Brendan Carr’s FCC pull rural broadband funds from states that try to regulate AI www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Here’s the Trump executive order that would ban state AI laws
Trump is launching an all-out broadside against states with strict AI regulations.
www.theverge.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Huge @tinanguyen.bsky.social scoop: Trump is preparing to try and ban all state AI laws, going so far as having Brendan Carr’s FCC pull rural broadband funds from states that try to regulate AI www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
This is indeed what happens when billionaires like Jeff Bezos dictate the contents of the opinion pages of @washingtonpost.com
What a fall for a once good newspaper! I have never regretted canceling my subscription after he nixed the Kamala Harris endorsement.
What a fall for a once good newspaper! I have never regretted canceling my subscription after he nixed the Kamala Harris endorsement.
November 18, 2025 at 1:37 PM
This is indeed what happens when billionaires like Jeff Bezos dictate the contents of the opinion pages of @washingtonpost.com
What a fall for a once good newspaper! I have never regretted canceling my subscription after he nixed the Kamala Harris endorsement.
What a fall for a once good newspaper! I have never regretted canceling my subscription after he nixed the Kamala Harris endorsement.
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
They started dismembering him while he was still alive
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 11:48 PM
They started dismembering him while he was still alive
This op-ed is advocating for a military invasion and a war. This is war propaganda.
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com
“I’ve been outspoken in calling on the administration to act against Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship” in Venezuela, Bret Stephens writes. “With war looming, possibly within days, it’s worth making the case again — and thinking through the ways it could go wrong.”
“I’ve been outspoken in calling on the administration to act against Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship” in Venezuela, Bret Stephens writes. “With war looming, possibly within days, it’s worth making the case again — and thinking through the ways it could go wrong.”
Opinion | The Case for Overthrowing Maduro
Thinking through the case for intervention in Venezuela.
nyti.ms
November 18, 2025 at 2:10 PM
This op-ed is advocating for a military invasion and a war. This is war propaganda.
Reposted by T. Kenny Fountain
Spare me the "Marjorie Taylor Greene has changed" bullshit.
Marjorie Taylor Greene to Dana Bash: "You should have Nick Fuentes on your show"
November 18, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Spare me the "Marjorie Taylor Greene has changed" bullshit.