You Are Not Supposed to Believe in Anything
Forgive me if you’ve seen this post twice — one version was accidentally sent to a restricted list of emails
If you imagine propaganda as something deadly dull, a Soviet television program extolling the harvest, or a grey newspaper front page with a picture of the Leader, then your imagination is out of date. Modern authoritarian propaganda can be entertaining, provocative and contradictory, designed to confuse and distract rather than convince and persuade. The idea is often not to motivate people, but to demotivate them.
This form of propaganda is now coming to the heart of the U.S. government, as I wrote in The Atlantic:
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded that all news organizations at the Pentagon sign a document agreeing to some new restrictions on reporters’ movement—and, more important, prohibiting journalists from publishing information that contradicts official accounts, a stricture that some believed risked criminalizing ordinary journalism. Several dozen reporters left the building, including from The Atlantic but also representatives of Newsmax and Fox News. Many had years of experience, as well as deep knowledge of military budgets, logistics, and technology. Now their replacements are arriving, and they are indeed different. Although they are widely described as “right wing,” as if they were conservatives, most are conspiracy theorists, domestic and foreign propagandists, and others with little institutional knowledge.
Among the groups now sending “reporters” to the Pentagon briefing room:
LindellTV, the streaming service founded by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy, who spent millions of dollars trying, unsuccessfully, to prove that China hacked the 2020 election (and who, as he once explained to me, would accept no evidence to the contrary as true).
Tim Pool, now the owner of something called Timcast Media. Pool previously worked for Tenet Media, a company that was secretly funded by RT, Russian state media. Pool has insisted that he did not know that the company received Russian money, although there were plenty of clues, including messages time-stamped in a way that indicated they came from Moscow, as well as encouragement to make videos that backed up absurd pro-Moscow narratives.
The Epoch Times, which is linked to the Falun Gong religious movement in China. The outlet is perhaps best known for promoting QAnon conspiracy theories as well as false accounts of the 2020 election.
Gateway Pundit, a site that unsuccessfully filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to thwart a lawsuit by election workers whom it had falsely accused of fraud.
As I explained:
These outlets might, of course, produce pro-Trump propaganda. But, more important, they will produce confusion. At a time of multiple international crises, at a moment when the United States is about to engage in some kind of military action in Venezuela, as the National Guard is being sent to American cities against the will of American governors, the Pentagon’s official positions will be relayed by Timcast, The Epoch Times, LindellTV and the Gateway Pundit, which means that many people simply won’t believe Pentagon statements at all.
And if nobody believes in anything, then they won’t react, get engaged, or interest themselves in politics at all. Read more here
Are Americans Angry Enough?
I discussed this exact question—engagement, participation, public involvement—with Charlie Sykes on his podcast last week. He pointed out that demonstrations in Hungary (watch the clips of opposition leader Peter Magyar speaking to a crowd of protesters here) have lately seemed better organized and more emotional than the No Kings protests that took place in the US last weekend.
But in some ways, this isn’t surprising. Orban successfully pacified Hungarians for more than a decade, until the scale of regime corruption became too overwhelming to ignore. In many countries where would-be authoritarians take over the state, the opposition divides and fragments; it takes time for politicians to learn the new rules. That’s happening in America too.
Listen to the whole conversation here:
Get Ready for the Midterms
Charlie and I also discussed the midterms, which inspires me this week to focus on just one must-read article: Donald Trump’s Plan to Subvert the Midterms Is Already Under Way, by my colleague David Graham. This essay explains exactly how the Trump administration is preparing for the midterm elections, and examines some of the ways in which the Republican Party might try to thwart the outcome. We know most of the playbook already, because we saw it in 2020: Make it harder for certain kinds of people to register to vote; gerrymander; claim illegal immigrants are voting (they aren’t); refuse to accept results, and, finally, maneuver key officials to annul them. This didn’t work in 2020. But this time Trump has more allies at the state level, more experience in the courts and more power in the media. And this time we know he will try, because he did once before.
Read the article for more details. If you still want to know more, and if you want to help, here are a few organizations that are preparing for next year.
Kleptocracy Tracker
Continuing to monitor conflicts of interest, ostentatious emoluments, outright corruption and policy changes that will facilitate outright corruption. (Read my original article, Kleptocracy Inc.)
October 24
A small drone company in which Donald Trump Jr. holds a $4 million stake won a US Army contract to supply 3,500 drone motors and other components.
Trump called off plans to send the National Guard to San Francisco after his tech billionaire allies urged him not to.
October 25
In addition to the fees Binance founder Changpeng Zhao paid to Trump through World Liberty Financial, Zhao also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Trump-aligned lobbyists to secure his pardon.
Corporate donors contributing to the White House ballroom project—including major firms in big tech, telecommunications, cryptocurrency, government contracting, media, and healthcare—stand to benefit from government policies overseen by the Trump administration across these industries.
MAGA-linked lobbying firms saw a surge in third-quarter business targeting Trump and his top officials, putting the sector on track for its largest single-year revenue increase since 1998.
Trump has staffed the Justice Department with loyalists and former personal attorneys, effectively insulating himself and his allies from federal oversight.
October 28
The Trump family earned $800 million from cryptocurrency asset sales—primarily to foreign buyers—in the first half of 2025, in addition to billions of dollars in unrealized gains.
Truth Social is launching a prediction market that will allow users to bet cryptocurrency on the outcomes of various political and economic events, including some over which the president has direct influence.
October 29
Trump lifted sanctions on Serbian nationalist leader Milorad Dodik after Dodik paid MAGA influencers and lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani and Rod Blagojevich, to lobby the administration for relief.
Holland Park, London
It was sunny for an hour. Then the skies turned grey. But I managed to get a few good pictures, including Lord Holland with a pigeon on his head, before the rain.
Enjoy the weekend, wherever you are
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