Nowadays, with social media rising and becoming one of the top sources for news and information, fake news is as accessible as ever, and it is everywhere. It is nearly impossible to navigate the web and not run into some unreliable sources and obscure stories that do not seem to have any validity to them and usually they are irrelevant. So the big question is simple. Why is fake news so big and prevalent?

The gaslighting technique, used in many different ways, is a form of manipulation used to instill doubt in an individual, or a group of people, to make them question themselves and what they hear. Politicians have used this technique well, and now people are having a hard time figuring out just who to believe, so the amount of people who are falling for fake news stories is on the rise. President Trump is a significant example of someone who likes to gaslight society, and the media, to get his way.

The 2016 election is long-gone, yet some assertions that President Donald Trump made are still raising some questions today. Such as his saying, “No, I don’t benefit, I don’t benefit,” from the bill that repeals the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). In many of Trump’s allegations, he’s provided no means to prove them, or any factual evidence to back it up. If anything, his dubious claims are only making the country doubt him even more. Sure, the idealistic country where the poor pays less and the wealthy pays more sounds okay, but that is not what the Tax Cut Bill will achieve.

Trump hasn’t released his tax information to the public, despite the fact that he said he would on two separate occasions. Is the AMT repeal the reason for this?

“I think that’s one of the issues.. People don’t really understand a lot of stuff that’s happening,” Sorcha O’Connor,’18, said in response to the false statements that Trump had made about the Tax Cut Bill.

“He may have even believed what he was saying… Most likely he’s, essentially, just lying” O’Connor said, “Which has been a common theme in the past, especially regarding his tax returns… This tax bill definitely does benefit his demographic,” Said O’Connor.

Trump is upset with media. He is attacking news stations, such as CNN, and claiming that they are spreading lies and fake news, but the media has exposed the fact that this tax bill will, most likely, benefit him. This middle-class tax cut, that is supposed to benefit the lower-class, appears to have a very beneficial impact on the wealthy.

To further his own political agenda and views, President Trump claimed that he would create a plan for Americans, in which the lower classes would pay less in taxes, and the wealthy would have to pay more, which sounded wonderful until the truth came out. His claims were false and, well, fake. As if there aren’t enough reasons to be cautious of what one reads and hears already, now there is, because even the President is offering some fake news.