【Rapsa (2025)】

Much of Donald Trump's presidential campaign has harnessed an existing conservative distrust of media and Rapsa (2025)government officials. And during Hurricane Matthew, that might cost people their lives.

Running as an anti-establishment businessman, Trump has not only cautioned people away from believing what the government says, he has also spent a great deal of time talking about a dishonest, "disgusting and corrupt media."

That line of skepticism has taken over parts of conservative media, as well. And as Hurricane Matthew, a storm that has already led to the death of at least 280 people, swept towards Florida Thursday, some of the more extreme conservative outlets began spreading disbelief about the severity of the Category 4 storm.

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Matt Drudge's Drudge Report, specifically featured front page doubt on whether Florida residents should evacuate or not with a typically-stylized headline that read, "Storm fizzle? Matthew looks ragged!"

As his website ran this headline, the National Weather Service issued intense warnings on Hurricane Matthew's landfall, using dramatic language that underlined the real danger for people who tried to brave the storm.

According to a National Weather Service forecast office in Jacksonville, Florida, "A major hurricane has not impacted this area in 118 years, since Oct. 2 1898. There is NO local living memory of the potential of this event. If a direct landfall occurs this will be unlike any hurricane in the modern era."

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The popular conservative commentator took issue with what he saw as media hype around the storm and cast suspicion on the government's information.

In a tweet that received over 1,500 retweets, Drudge stated, "The deplorables are starting to wonder if govt has been lying to them about Hurricane Matthew intensity to make exaggerated point on climate."

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These sentiments alarmed people in the media who feared that residents in the path of the hurricane would not evacuate as ordered, and possibly result in loss of life.

Many reports immediately sprang up pleading with people to disregard Drudge's skepticism.

The Weather Channel released a stern warning video that highlighted the danger that lied in wait for those who chose to stay.

"This is like no storm in the record books," the Weather Channel's Senior Hurricane Specialist Bryan Norcross said. "We are concerned about reports of people deciding to stay in areas under mandatory evacuation orders. This is a mistake. This is not hype, this is not hyperbole and I am not kidding. I cannot overstate the danger of this storm. Central and north Florida have never been hit by a hurricane this strong."

While the Weather Channel has issued dire warnings before, the message that, "this is not hype," is indicative of specialists trying to stem the tide of misinformation that might cost people their lives.

Fox News' Shepard Smith issued a unique plea of his own, blatantly trying to scare people into evacuating with chilling words.

"This moves 20 miles to the west and you and everyone you know are dead," he said. "All of you. Because you can't survive it... And your kids die, too."

This stubborn refusal to accept information from government officials or established media seems to have leaked directly out of Trump's bid for the White House. Throughout his campaign he has ridiculed the media that covers him and targeted all of his primary opponents for their ties with the established federal government.

Polls have shown that Republican voters have a deep suspicion of the government and Trump's criticism of almost every facet of the way the U.S. has been run only deepens that. Combine that with his outspoken hatred of the press and his message becomes clear: Do not trust your government or the mainstream media.

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Of course, this narrative of a lying government/media also fits right in with Trump's consistent denial of climate change. The conversation of which has grown so polarizing in conservative circles that many see any warning of danger from Hurricane Matthew as propaganda to further a push to address the changing climate.

So, to a lot of Trump supporters, the repeated media and government warnings about Hurricane Matthew are tinged with the candidate's calls to disregard those messages.

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Skepticism of government practices is built into our system; that's why our founding fathers created a system of checks and balances.

However, when lives are on the line, residents should heed the dire warnings of weather experts.