LIZ: So many of you may know that the Epoch Times became more popular in the Trump era, but it didn't start like that.

ANGELA: They were pretty involved in politics, but mostly Chinese politics and anything having to do with Chinese politics, which is why they probably slid under the radar for so long. Once Trump became president and started to, you know, talk about being anti-China, Falun Gong was like, “hey, that's us. We're anti-China!” We don't like the Chinese Communist Party.“ A lot of practitioners were like, “maybe Trump is a guardian angel sent by Master Li to save the United States and China.” And of course, Master Li was like, “no, no, no! you're not worshipping anybody else but me!” He was like, “we do not worship any politicians. Let's keep that in mind, you know, I'm the only one.” But he did say, “the politicians who do favor us are great people and we can save them. Trump is someone to be saved.” And the Falun Gong practitioners like jumped on that real quick and started to put out propaganda piece after propaganda piece on the Epoch Times, which is how most people see them now.

LIZ: And then she dropped this “bomb”.

ANGELA: I was actually at the Capitol Insurrection on January 6th with my mom because she was there to report about it for her own little YouTube channel, and she was also putting out propaganda pieces on her own, while also being employed by the Epoch Times. I saw the Big Orange Man and I was like, “oh, there he is!” We didn't actually get to see the Capitol Insurrection because I was too cold. I'm a California girl. It was January in Washington, DC. I was like, “mom, get me out of here. We already got like really good footage of the Trump rally. Can we please go back to the hotel where there is a heater and snacks and warm soup?” So we went back to the hotel and then we turned on the news and live footage of the people storming into the Capitol. We were like right next to the Capitol, like at the gates at the very front. So if I had not been cold, we could have like been swept in there. But there were Epoch Times reporters there too. And they saw everything that happened. But the story that they twisted was the people who stormed the Capitol were actually Black Lives Matter people in disguise trying to ruin the reputation of Trump supporters. And I was like, “really?” Because all the people at the front who we were talking to, were like hardcore Trump supporters. They were like white people holding like Trump signs, singing like Christian songs, like praise Jesus, all that stuff. So I don't think so. And my mom was like, “no, like those good people left. And then the Black Lives Matter people came in and replaced them and then stormed the Capitol.” That's the story that we were telling for the longest time. Oh my gosh, so many people read the Epoch Times, anything that confirms their biases and act on that no matter if it's the Epoch Times or any other news source, but especially because the Epoch Times is so extreme in their views. But like not many people know that it's run by a cult. When I graduated college in 2022, my mom had been working at the Epoch Times for two years, and she wanted me to work with her. And I was like, “no, thanks.” They paid her below minimum wage. And she was working full time. And I was like, “okay, I guess I can just like go to the hiring event and see where that takes me.” I was already going in kind of like, I don't want to do this. They sat us down in this meeting room and there were a bunch of people there. And they started giving us presentation after presentation about how great Epoch Times is. They're a booming company. They're getting more and more popular. There are so many readers now, all this great stuff. And then this guy comes out, the spokesperson. He says something that is so funny to me. He says, “the Epoch Times is a very objective media. We're not left or right. We get very, very objective views.” And I was like, “really? Because I was there at the Capitol Insurrection. I was there when my mom sat me down at the dinner table and made me watch the whole QAnon documentary you guys put out.” Either they're really self-aware or they're just like flat out lying. Either way, I don't want to be a part of this. I turned down the job because I don't want to work for Epoch Times. My parents were really upset. It was like the whole Shen Yun thing over again. They were like, “you're giving up this great opportunity. You've wanted to be a writer for so long. You read the New York Times, you do all this reading, the Epoch Times isn't so different.” I was like, “yeah, except they're paying you below minimum wage. And they're run by Falun Gong.” Like, “Falun Gong had taken up so much of my life already.” It was in my family life. It was the root of every single mental and physical problem that I've ever had. And I didn't want it to control me financially either. So that was the decision that I made. Again, to the disappointment of my parents.

LIZ: It's so hard to disappoint your parents, but thank God you made that choice, Angela.

TYLER: And so, instead of working at a right-wing fear-based loose-with-the-truth propaganda machine...