Kiera Butler Spins Kennedy’s Plan to Deal with America’s Addiction Crisis
Honest Media has already pointed out the mix of truth, lies, and spin that Kiera Butler utilizes in her reporting at Mother Jones. Last week, we saw why the term Disinfo Dupe fits Butler and her reporting so well.
On July 24, Butler reported that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to “send people addicted to antidepressants to government ‘wellness farms’” if he is elected president of the United States. The lies and spin in this report are tailored quite well for Mother Jones readers. The piece insinuates that Kennedy will require individuals to be “sent,” against their will, to wellness farms if they take antidepressants.
This reasoning is simply nonsense.
If people are happy to be on these medications and feel they are getting a benefit from them, then of course Kennedy completely supports their right to remain on a prescription. He is very clear that these farms would only be for people who desired to get off of their medication, whether it be antidepressants, opioids, or any other drug.
Kennedy’s point is that these medicines have proven to be very addictive in varying ways, and often people who want to stop using them can’t. Opioids have a well known form of dependent addiction associated with them – nearly identical to alcohol or heroin addiction.
Antidepressant SSRIs have a more insidious form of dependancy where once someone is on them, getting off can result in vicious withdrawals. Katie Brown describes for Physicians Postgraduate Press how “the zaps” are one unique withdrawal from SSRIs where an individual feels like their brain is being “zapped” inside of their skull. The only “known way” to prevent “brain zaps” is to continue to take some form of SSRI… for the rest of your life.
In her latest report, Butler never directly states Kennedy would force anyone to stop medication. But she suggests in the headline and in her very deceptive wording and selective quotes used throughout the article.
Why Spin This Story?
Kennedy’s plan to tackle addiction is thoughtful and intelligent. One can disagree with it, challenge it, or put forth why it does not represent good policy. But Kiera Butler and Mother Jones do not choose to engage in a good faith way. Instead, they are intentionally spinning the truth to make Kennedy’s words seem like something they absolutely are not.
Why?
According to data from the federal department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 13% of Americans take antidepressants, and they are the third most popular prescription drug in the country. 23% of white women are prescribed antidepressants, which is the highest of any group in the country.
Mother Jones’ readership is predominantly white liberals, and the magazine’s media kit claims that their audience is highly educated, relatively affluent, and has more women than men (53% vs 47%). Therefore, their readership would likely consist of a higher percentage of people taking antidepressants, according to HHS data trends. And even for their readers who are not on antidepressants, most Americans today know a loved one or a friend (or many) who is prescribed some form of these medications.
Kennedy put out a post on X regarding Butler’s report which summed up the situation well, and linked to his documentary about his plan to address the addiction crisis called Recovering America.
Butler and Mother Jones decided to paint a false picture that Kennedy views people on antidepressants as “drug addicts” who should be forced into “wellness farms for 3 to 4 years.” This kind of reporting perpetuates a lie that Kennedy is an authoritarian danger to Mother Jones’ readers, or to their family members, when it is in fact the exact opposite of what Kennedy’s plan actually seeks.
Read more of Honest Media’s coverage of Butler’s Disinfo Dupe reporting here:
Mother Jones is a total rag. What is Kamala's plan for addiction?
Incarceration. That is what her record shows.
Will Kiera write about that?
More nonsense from Butler! Bet she is a Democrat!!!Ugh!!!