This broader issue has been bad for a while. I honestly wonder if our climate change situation would be better today if the media hadn’t given equal time to scientists who didn’t think there was human-influenced climate change, even though they were an infinitesimally small fraction of climate scientists. I can understand why some people thought it was a debate among scientists long after it was broadly accepted.
Likewise, treating every wholly fabricated lie that Trump spouts out like it deserves consideration gives him underserved legitimacy.