Just a general advice, even when your father writes something completely outlandish, try not to "debunk" it. Instead ask soft, nonconfrontational questions to help him find the truth on his own. Be clear about nonreliable sources, but don't dwell and always approach with curiosity ("Fox news is not a good source. Have you seen it somewhere else? I'd like to learn more"). The goal is to be seen as a partner. Nobody likes to be lectured, and parents in particular usually reject their children's attempts to teach them anything.

I've not had a huge amount of success with this in general. Most people already have their minds made up and aren't listening. However, the some successes I've had are by asking questions. If you can get someone to a point where they are questioning their own ideas, they tend to be more open to changing their mind.

As you said about your mom being Mexican and being deported. So, I feel like you're on the right track.

Removing access to the sources giving them their opinions appears to be pretty effective at drastically reducing their focus on hating things and getting riled up. This was explored in The Brainwashing of my Dad documentary.

I was able to do this with my own mother, who only watched right-wing news from clips on YouTube. When she wasn't at her computer at an appointment, I installed a browser add-on called Blocktube that let's you selectively block YouTube channels or videos from popping by a list of keywords. I also then subscribed her account to left-wing news sources like pbs and more perfect union.

From that point onward, she was never recommended right-wing news or interviews, and within a few months her views on things noticeably changed, she no longer brought up all the fear-porn from fox, and even finally believed in climate change thanks to PBS Terra.

I was fortunate she didn't watch TV, where blocking a whole station would probably be more noticeable. But for those who have the opportunity to limit parent access to right-wing poison, I can attest to its effectiveness.

and how would an elder start looking for friends or recreational activities for seniors? I don’t even know what’s available.

Not sure how regional this is, but a very midwestern American thing is the "old man coffee club". This is not an official name or organized sanctioned event, but its such a regular occurrence that everyone knows what it is. Old men will meet at a diner or restaurant where they will drink coffee and chit chat. Its usually a weekly meet, but in some localities its a daily thing.

I don't precisely know how to tell you to find your local one. I know mine is at a local McDonalds on Wednesday mornings only from happening to be there at that time and immediately recognizing it for what it was. See if you could find that for your dad. I look forward to my retirement days attending my local old man coffee club (and to be complaining about the young presumably).

As for formal events, look into your local "Center on Aging" or "Senior center". This is usually a public organization that hold events for seniors and many times has a regular lunch hall (very reasonably priced!).

I try to calmly explain to people how if you hear something enough, you start to believe it blindly

I also explain how the reward schedules of social media are terrible for you

I have not had great results. I've helped encourage people who already understood all this to be more mindful of their media diet, but people blindly enraged at imaginary enemies don't seem to be moved

A whole lot of Americans are discovering every day that Fox News didn't "radicalize" Granny and Poppop, Granny and Poppop radicalized Fox News because they were fascists the whole time.

Remember that Dominion Voting lawsuit against Fox News? In the discovery were text messages from popular hosts like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingram. What those texts revealed was that both hosts and the network itself was terrified of viewer revolt. They both admitted to platforming "lunatics" and spreading conspiracies just to mollify their rabid viewers. For context: Fox news had accurately called the 2020 Election for Biden first. Their viewers considered this a betrayal and switched to Newsmax and other far-right channels by the million.

The call is coming from inside the house.

From a psych nurse, DO NOT directly tell him to stop doing the delusional / maladaptive thing. Do not give the thought pattern the chance to practice protecting itself. Just offer the better thing on it's own in a way that doesn't directly challenge the maladaptive behavior. If you challenge directly it will only get stronger. I don't have good tips on specific activities because that's gonna be so locality specific I just wanna share some tried and true wisdom on how to introduce when you do find something.

What are his hobbies or interests? Most places have senior centers with programs that involve getting people together for activities.

Though I'm not sure if him spending time with a bunch of other senior men is going to solve this issue.

You may want to point him to recent articles about how shady interests are paying people all over the world to post right wing US talking points to US social media via VPNs.

Or how social media algorithms are design for engagement and that promotes rage baiting content most of all.

Any kind of hobby that gets him off screens for hours a day.

Even a solitary one like model railroads or model building would be better than spending time online.

Back in the 1970's I was telling everyone that you don't have to buy a book from the New York Times best seller list. There are other books out there. Grab some random shit at the library and test yourself. Then someone else responded "Oh! You limit yourself to just libraries, do you?". You can't win. /s

Tried to convince my mom in a very indirect manner, "I don't like these AI videos because you can never tell what they're getting right or wrong, so you have to be suspicious of everything. They don't care about being right, they just care about money", didn't work. She listened, she understood, but she still watches slop from time to time.

My brother is worse, because, despite being a very strict history teacher, he watches slop once in a while and even recommended me some videos. "This is AI" - to which his reply was simply "Watch it". He also uses instagram at least twice a day.

I think most people would benefit from watching a lot less algorithmic slop, and unfortunately the younger ones are currently the most exposed.

I do get your point, though. Normally, I find that the rec center is a great place for the life experienced to hang out with real people. Another good choice is the Silver Sneakers class at the local gym.