Official acknowledgment of a fear ratifies it as reasonable unless paired with correction

Evidence

What was extraordinary was the reaction of numerous public officials. Leaders like Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, did not try to calm popular fears or resist conspiracist delusions with reasonable explanations based on their knowledge of events. Instead, officials signaled that they, too, had concerns. Abbott went so far as to task the Texas State Guard with monitoring the military operation on behalf of the state: “During the training operation,” Abbott wrote to the guard, “it is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed.” While Abbott’s letter elicited ridicule elsewhere in the nation, he was not the only official to go along with conspiracist stories. As Texas congressman Louie Gohmert said, “The map of this exercise needs to change, the names on the map need to change, and the tone of the exercise needs to be completely revamped so the federal government is not intentionally practicing war against its own states.” Abbott chose not to speak truth to conspiracy: as one Republican former Texas state representative wrote, Abbott should make decisions based on “facts and evidence” and stop “pandering to idiots.” … To understand a worry is in some sense to acknowledge that the worry is reasonable. It takes rhetorical care to both communicate that one understands what people think and also correct it. By representing himself as sharing the worry of a military takeover, he failed to fulfill his responsibility to not only express an understanding but also correct a misunderstanding by telling his constituents that their fears are unfounded and dangerous. He abdicated his responsibility to maintain a partisan connection that works in two directions. The two-way connection transmits information not only from the citizens to government but also from the government to citizens. — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 324

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Rosenblum’s broader thesis on ‘political people’ and the role of officials; resonates with the partisan connection literature and representation theory. — connects to: Corrections work best when paired with a credible alternative explanation — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 280; Honest climate response requires admitting fear rather than false reassurance — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom,…, 1368; Representatives legitimize constituent fears by sympathetically acknowledging them — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New…, 324 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Representatives legitimize constituent fears by sympathetically acknowledging them #exemplifies (0.85) — Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum, A Lot of People Are Saying, 324
• Honest climate response requires admitting fear rather than false reassurance #qualifies (0.80) — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, 1368
• Correcting false beliefs can strengthen them rather than reduce them #expands (0.72) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 350