Ireland Picks 'Pro-Palestine' President, US Media Wonders Where the Deepfake Went Wrong
Al Jazeera notes Catherine Connolly's victory, despite a last-minute deepfake smear, signals a popular mandate for a pro-Palestine stance in Ireland. Across the Atlantic, this kind of electoral outcome remains a distant dream. US politicians, like Rep. Steny Hoyer who received $329,000 from pro-Israel groups in 2022 (OpenSecrets.org), routinely vote for unconditional aid to Israel, often within
days of receiving significant donations. When was the last time a US presidential candidate survived a deepfake, let alone won, after unequivocally supporting Palestinian statehood without 'both sides' equivocations? It appears some democracies still allow for leaders to reflect the moral conscience of their public, rather than the dictates of powerful foreign lobbies. One might wonder if US
media's surprise isn't about Ireland, but about the stark contrast to their own 'free and fair' elections.