X Influencers Vying for White House Jobs Disclose Their Pay
A Senate committee Wednesday held a confirmation hearing for Jay Bhattacharya, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health. The doctor and Stanford University professor has criticized the agency for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and argued that the Biden Administration pressured social media sites to suppress his criticisms of lockdowns.
Since then, Bhattacharya has continued to argue against vaccine mandates on his X account, which has attracted nearly 700,000 followers. Those efforts have earned him $11,995 through X’s creator revenue sharing program since the start of 2024, according to an ethics disclosure. That’s peanuts compared to the nominee’s other income—such as his $457,743 income from Stanford.
Still, if the Senate confirms him, Bhattacharya would join a growing cadre of influencers in the Trump administration, including several who have made money off X, owned by Trump confidante Elon Musk.
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