Logged into Bing this morning and saw this odd little snippet:

Does Trump ‘reportedly’ treat Putin like a ‘confidant’?
I can believe it, but is it true?
I looked for the source, Business Insider.
Who owns Business Insider?

Ok.
Business Insider is nine years old, possibly center-left and uses a
cickbait style.
You can tell it’s click-bait because…

Are other media outlets reporting this story?
I ran a search for Trump treats Putin like a confidant:

The top five results are Business Insider, Reddet, YouTube and a December
2016 piece on Kissinger by Politico.
The YouTube video is of an unnamed ex-intelligence chief who says the U.S.
needs to treat Vladimir Putin as an equal.
It looks like pro-Putin propaganda.
The YouTube video is from Sky News.
Rupert Murdoch founded Sky News in 1989.

What if I Google Trump ‘reportedly’ treats Putin like a confidant?

The top five search results are Business Insider and MSN (Bing)
and that December 2016 piece on Kissinger by Politico.
Does Trump treat Putin Like a Confidant?
Perhaps.
I think it’s true.
But that doesn’t make it true.
Based on my research the Business Insider headline is nothing but clickbait
and has no value as news.
So, Business Insider:

Rob Goldstein 2018
Screenshots are for educational purposes only.
Animated gif found on GIPHY
Who knows. But putie sure has something over Hair Furor and I believe it’s a combo between golden shower tapes and money laundering. Very soon, putie will be given the keys to the kingdom from his adoring fan.
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The stench of Kremlin Trump’s corruption is overwhelming, and I think a majority of America is sick of waking up to it.
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And the rest of the world! 🙂
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Oh yes, the idea that Trump’s only opposition are ‘liberals’ and ‘leftists’ is as absurd as his Presidency.
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Wow. Layers on layers of manipulation. Very few things would surprise me now, given the current situation. But skepticism of “clickbait” matters!! Facts matter!! Thank you for showing us!!!
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You’re welcome. I’ll do more posts like this. My new rule is no news is true news until I’ve verified the story on multiple credible news outlets.
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We just do not know .
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I agree Paula, we may not know if Trump and Putin have a mad bromance, but we do know the Russian government uses our press to lie to us and we do know the Russian Government is no friend of Democracy.
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Simply disturbing
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I see several narrative themes emerging from Putin’s army of paid liars:
The democrats need to get rid of Nancy Pelosi.
My answer: No. We need politicians who know how our government works if we intend to take back the house and Senate.
People of color are leaving the Democratic Party.
I’m sure some people of color are leaving the party but there is no mass exodus of African-Americans and Latinos from the Democratic Party.
Pitiful stories of bullied Trump supporters suffering the hatred of liberals and leftists simply because he/she is trying to be a good American.
No. If you are an American who supports a man who conspired with the Russian Government to steal an election you are a traitor. Americans don’t have to be nice to you.
The Resistance to Trump is liberal and leftist.
My reply: No. Joe Scarborough, George Will, and William Kristol are hard-core conservatives who place country above party and they represent millions of Americans. The Resistance to Trump transcends party.
Stay frosty.
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Thank you Robert for your comprehensive response, all so very enlightening for me, and I thoroughly appreciate your information. 😊
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We’ve got to start holding media companies accountable for vetting the information they sell to us as news. Lies are lethal to democratic systems.
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The same happens here, the media aren’t satisfied with reporting the facts, they want to be the news, and lie to please themselves, again chasing popularity and dollars, just like all corporate bodies, feeding themselves on greed, nothing to do with integrity or truth.
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It behooves the people of the democracies of the world to remember why the Allies regulated Capitalism.
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So Trump is going to Putin to make a great deal.
That’s not the question. The question is:
Remember, Donald is the president who refused to divest and he seems to be getting away with emoluments violations at will. So what will Putin give to Donald, personally, to get what Putin wants? And, how bad will that hurt America and the rest of the free world? Which is what the rest of the free world is asking too.
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These are excellent questions. My primary concern is with the mid-terms. I now see the same pervasive propaganda I saw in 2016; lies sprinkled with truth and more lies. The American people are going to have to learn to question everything they read, especially stories that appeal to their political prejudices. For an example of what I mean by pervasive propaganda, please see my post, A Gilded Throne of Lies.
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Dear Rob,
President Trump would love to be a BFF to President Putin, but while that may be a goal of our president, it is not of President Putin who does not have the US best interests at heart. President Trump doesn’t get that he is supposed to be prioritizing representing the US national security interests.
President Trump is somehow beholden to President Putin but he is not a confidant to President Trump.
Hugs, Gronda
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Putin is a shrewd politician who chose the most malignant and destructive narcissist he could find to destroy our country.
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It’s nice you use your whole brain to consider sources. Man, I hate click bait. I wish more people were a bit more skeptical.
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Most people don’t have the time to research the credibility of a news story which is why those of us who do have the time should do it. Thanks Joey.
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I like how you try to dig deep enough to find the truth. Me, I suspect it’s not true. It doesn’t fit Trump’s other actions. I guess, with the way the economy is going, UE at historic lows for so many groups, growth as high as it was during Clinton and Reagan’s time, I am not ready to judge anything good or bad. Very thoughtful analysis.
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Thanks Jacqui. The reason I made a point of saying I can believe Trump treats Putin, as a confidant is the story appeals to a personal bias, which makes verification even more important. We can use the power of the internet to verify what we read and I’m willing to do it for folks who don’t have the time. I can appreciate a strong economy and despise this deluge of divisive crazy making lies from Putin’s army of propagandists.
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