In making his case Manning ignores, or at least the article does not mention, the influence of fake news on peoples' opinions and voting preferences.

Good leadership must include rejection of  all fake news and fudging the facts, which both the Russian Candidate and Harper did with great abandon during their respective elections.

Fake news stories are lies. When made during elections they are obviously intended to assist politicians to get elected. Politicians must be held accountable for their lies.

Voter mistrust of political systems arises because they are not given the truth. Instead they are fed a diet of misinformation intended to change their opinions and voting preferences.

We should be very wary of people like the Russian Candidate and also people like Manning who seem to think that lying to voters is OK.