Center for Responsible American Politics
May 20, 2020
by Guy Fawkes
In a closely held memo distributed to key individuals and media producers by by the Senate GOP campaign arm, the NRSC pushed for completion of the secretive disinformation project euphemistically known to insiders as the FPP Project. The FPP, or Fully Programmed People project was the creation of long time Republican political consulting firm of Brett O’Donnell. The project has taken on a greater significance with the fall elections rapidly approaching where recent polling has shown the President falling behind Joe Biden in key swing states and some Republican senators such as Az Senator Martha McSally are vulnerable.
When questioned about the existence of the FPP project, Jesse Hunt, an NRSC spokesman
Jesse Hunt said that they routinely send out different sources of information dozens of times each week. Hunt tried to veer away from questions concerning a 57-page memo authored by the O’Donnell firm which attempts to deflect blame for Trump’s mishandling of the covid-19 crisis by accusing China for it’s handling of the virus.
This was the latest example of an ongoing strategy utilizing a wide range of disinformation tactics centered on social media such as radio talk shows, Facebook, Fox, and sympathetic media outlets such as the New York Post and right wing blogs. The key to the success of the strategy has been the ability to tightly control the message and include just enough truth to keep messaging believable.
The FPP project has found greatest success in faith based and low education voters, primarily in the southern and upper midwestern states. Key elements have been the sewing distrust of anyone with advanced education or expertise in a specific field. This has included a push for private education initiatives where potential Republican voters are easily programmed at an early age.
Pew polling in 2019 indicated that 59% of Republicans now have a low opinion of a college or university education. The FPP project has collaborated with the influential right wing conservative religious organizations such as the Southern Baptist convention to encourage people to rely on their faith for simple answers to complex social or political problems. This has facilitated a greater number of voters who will not attempt to bring critical thinking skills into the voting booth, but rather vote as “fully programmed people.”
Citing the success of the FPP project at the clandestine annual meeting hosted by the Koch brothers at Indian Wells, a former Marine general joked that It wouldn’t matter if news of the FPP project were splashed across the front page of the New York Times, laughing as he said “Our people don’t read and we tell them what to think.”