During the two decades preceding the 2016 election, groups such as climate change deniers, anti-vaxxers, creationists, birthers, 9/11 truthers and conspiracy theorists of every variety all demonstrated a fierce disregard for factual evidence that contradicted their beliefs, often reinforced by right-wing media outlets such as Fox News and talk radio, and by online echo chambers. This increasingly popular mindset was a toxic cocktail of cynicism and credulity. People who were proudly sceptical of CNN or The New York Times were perfectly happy to take unsourced Facebook posts and quack science
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