Candace Owens’ baseless claim about Brigitte Macron reflects a wider trend of conspiracy theories targeting influential women
Hit with a defamation lawsuit, conservative commentator Candace Owens is not backing away from her baseless claims that France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, is a man.
Responding to the lawsuit July 23, Owens said Brigitte Macron “is definitely a man,” and called the Macrons’ lawsuit a public relations strategy.
“They don’t care if they win,” Owens said. “This is about running it through the press.”
Related Knowledge Center: Information integrity
In an increasingly fractured media landscape, truth has been a casualty in the public discussion. Coverage has been warped by the business needs of struggling news organizations, and a significant segment of the public relies on bad-faith outlets that are little more than propagandists. While fact-checking has become routine, some organizations are exploring other ways to combat the trends. And misinformation spewed by AI-driven chatbots has become more of a feature than simply a bug.
Fact-checking and its detractors