Plain Talk: Bank of North Dakota president responds to conspiracy theories

MINOT — We live in an age of misinformation. The internet is chock full of false narratives and egregious bunkum that can seem plausible to some if for no other reason than the sheer volume of it, or perhaps because it confirms certain biases and attitudes the audience already has.

Recently, a website called the Gateway Pundit,

which was forced to print a retraction as a part of a settlement in a defamation lawsuit brought by Georgia election workers,

published what it purports to be a news story about the Bank of North Dakota.

Citing anonymous sources and critics, the

“story”

insinuates that the Bank of North Dakota is involved in a cover-up of bad loans, bailouts and other nefarious activities. The one on-the-record statement was given by Sen. Kent Weston, a Republican who serves in District 9.

Normally, one might think it unwise to respond to internet cranks, but we live in an era where talk radio host Alex Jones was

able to convince 1 in 5 Americans that the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

These things can’t be taken lightly.

Bank of North Dakota President Don Morgan joined this episode of Plain Talk to provide factual answers. “The only part of the article that is true is they got our name right,” Morgan told Chad Oban and me.

“As it kind of got picked up by some locals, we decided we want to get some facts out there,” he continued.

Morgan says the bank is in strong financial shape, and it hasn’t received bailouts. He also said that Sen. Weston hasn’t, to his knowledge, contacted the bank about the claims made in the article.

Also on this episode, Democratic-NPL auditor candidate Tim Lamb joined to discuss his campaign.

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