TPM Reader CG shares his story …
My experiences are similar to the readers you have quoted. But in my experience people who get submersed in the right wing media don’t just become more racially and ethnically intolerant – they start buying into the whole package.
My step-father was your classic Archie Bunker-type conservative who was also an open atheist who often made fun of people who didn’t believe in evolution. He had a degree in pharmacy and was so into anthropology as a hobby that for years he was a weekend tour guide at a famous natural history institute.
Fast forward 40 years, with 20+ years of right wing media. Now he doubts evolution, and I know several others who have made a similar transition. I’m sure it’s because his trusted news sources all disbelieve in evolution, so he either has to question his trusted sources or change what used to be a core belief of his.
