Mark Halperin: Stop treating suspicion as proof

Let’s start with a basic truth that is bound to make just about everyone mad: America is completely addicted to looking at facts through a purely partisan lens. If an event doesn't fit the pre-established narrative of Red or Blue America, we don't change our minds — we just demand the facts be rewritten.

Because of my work, I have the privilege of talking to people all over this country every single day via text, email, and live conversations. What frustrates me most right now isn't that we disagree. Disagreement is healthy for a democracy. What’s dangerous is how quickly folks skip right over the process of gathering evidence to jump to massive, nation-dividing conclusions.

This week brought two textbook cases. One has Red America furious; the other has Blue America in a total meltdown. In both instances, the people screaming the loudest are completely off-base.

Red America’s ghost fraud

Out West, we watched Republican candidate Spencer Pratt drop from a secure, two-person runoff spot down to third place in the Los Angeles mayoral race as the late mail-in ballots were tallied. Almost instantly, Red America — led by Donald Trump — declared that the election was actively being stolen.

Look, California’s voting system is completely ridiculous. It takes a preposterous amount of time to count, it allows for ballot harvesting, and the execution is sloppy. As my friend Larry O'Connor pointed out, the real scandal in California is what’s legal. The system inherently undermines public confidence, and regardless of party, Californians should demand it be changed.

But there is a grand canyon of difference between a flawed system and widespread voter fraud.

The late-ballot shift toward Democrats happens in almost every California election cycle. It is entirely expected based on historical patterns. Yet, without a single shred of concrete evidence, partisans jumped straight to a conspiracy. They are hurting their own cause. By screaming "fraud" instead of doing the hard work to fix the law, they give their opponents an easy pass.

Blue America’s corporate meltdown

Meanwhile, Blue America is treating the corporate shakeup at CBS News like an existential threat to democracy. When Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and management fired 60 Minutes icon Scott Pelley, liberals painted it as a hostile, pro-Trump coup designed to kill independent journalism. Pelley went to the New York Times to lay out his "smoking gun" case of egregious political interference.

But if you look at the actual facts as we know them, it is incredibly thin gruel.

Pelley was publicly indignant that a fired executive producer was locked out of her email and told to leave the building by 5 p.m. Folks, that is exactly how the corporate world works. He then recounted how he refused to meet with his new bosses because he was "too emotionally wrought up" or hosting a baby shower, only to finally show up to a full staff meeting and aggressively berate his superiors. In any normal workplace, that isn't martyrdom; it's flat-out insubordination. No boss in the world tolerates that.

As for his proof of political interference? Pelley cited an email where Weiss asked if a script could describe a protester's car as driving "toward" an officer, and whether they could find footage to make a protest look more dramatic. Those aren't marching orders from the Trump White House — those are standard, everyday editorial notes from a senior executive pushing her team. Pelley didn't even make the changes, and Weiss didn't force them.

Anchored to reality

If you believe elections are always stolen, a slow vote count is your confirmation. If you believe the mainstream media is surrendering to the White House, a standard corporate firing is your proof.

I am entirely open to both theories if anyone wants to bring forward actual evidence. If there is organized fraud in Los Angeles, let's see it. If Bari Weiss is doing the political bidding of the administration, let's expose it. But until you have the receipts, stop screaming.

When an event perfectly confirms your deepest political fears, that is exactly when you need to slow down, not speed up. We don't need fewer arguments in this country, but we desperately need more discipline. It’s time to stop lionizing insubordination on the left, stop crying wolf about stolen elections on the right, and start staying anchored to reality.

It’s time to stop treating suspicion as proof. It’s time to stop assuming the worst about our opponents before the evidence is in. Whether the subject is elections, journalism, or anything else, the same rule applies: the facts should come first. Right now, in too much of America, the lens comes first and the facts come second.

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Mark Halperin is a veteran political analyst, host of Next Up, and editor-in-chief of 2WAY. To read more of his daily reporting and join his live, cross-partisan conversations with voters and newsmakers, visit markhalperin.substack.com.