The Atlantic writer McKay Coppins says President Trump's reelection team is waging a massive disinformation campaign that uses the same tactics of information warfare used by autocrats like Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and by Russian President Vladimir Putin in our 2016 election.

He says their tactics include coordinated bot attacks, micro-targeting millions of voters susceptible to radicalization and conspiratorial thinking, anonymous mass texting, and infiltrating local news stations with Potemkin local news websites. It's all meant to flood our senses and confuse our ability to discern fact from fiction.

Also this hour: Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is on the rise. Results from the Iowa caucus and President Trump's high approval ratings have some wondering if any of the existing frontrunners could beat Trump. Is it time to take another look at Bloomberg?

GUESTS:
McKay Coppins - Staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of The Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party's Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House
Mike Pesca - Host of the Slate daily podcast The Gist and the editor of the book Upon Further Review: The Greatest What Ifs in Sports History

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

The Atlantic&nbsp;writer McKay Coppins says President Trump's reelection team is waging a massive&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/03/the-2020-disinformation-war/605530/">disinformation campaign</a>&nbsp;that uses the same tactics of information warfare used by autocrats like Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and by Russian President Vladimir Putin in our 2016 election.
He says their tactics include coordinated bot attacks,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/brazil-jair-bolsonaro-facebook-elections">micro-targeting</a>&nbsp;millions of voters susceptible to radicalization and conspiratorial thinking, anonymous mass texting, and infiltrating local news stations with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/07/12/628085238/russian-influence-campaign-sought-to-exploit-americans-trust-in-local-news">Potemkin local news</a>&nbsp;websites. It's all meant to flood our senses and confuse our ability to discern fact from fiction.
Also this hour: Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/07/could-michael-bloomberg-win/">on the rise</a>. Results from the Iowa caucus and President Trump's high approval ratings have some wondering if any of the existing frontrunners could beat Trump. Is it&nbsp;<a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/01/mike-bloomberg-president-2020.html">time to take another look</a>&nbsp;at Bloomberg?
GUESTS:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/mckay-coppins/">McKay Coppins</a>&nbsp;- Staff writer at&nbsp;The Atlantic&nbsp;and the author of&nbsp;The Wilderness: Deep Inside the Republican Party's Combative, Contentious, Chaotic Quest to Take Back the White House</li>
<li><a href="https://slate.com/author/mike-pesca">Mike Pesca</a>&nbsp;- Host of the&nbsp;Slate&nbsp;daily podcast&nbsp;The Gist&nbsp;and the editor of the book&nbsp;Upon Further Review: The Greatest What Ifs in Sports History</li>
</ul>
Join the conversation on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ColinMcShow/">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/wnprcolin">Twitter</a>.
Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

The Colin McEnroe Show is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called The Nose for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

<a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/about">The Colin McEnroe Show</a> is public radio’s most eclectic, eccentric weekday program. The best way to understand us is through the subjects we tackle: Neanderthals, tambourines, handshakes, the Iliad, snacks, ringtones, punk rock, Occam’s razor, Rasputin, houseflies, zippers. Are you sensing a pattern? If so, you should probably be in treatment. On Fridays, we try to stop thinking about what kind of ringtones Neanderthals would want to have and convene a panel called <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/tags/the-nose">The Nose</a> for an informal roundtable about the week in culture.

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