The effort to shape public opinion on the political left has crossed from spin into something far more reckless.
On the floor of the United States Senate, Illinois Democrat Senator Dick Durbin displayed an AI-generated image that he claimed depicted the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti. The image was not authentic, contained obvious visual flaws, and misrepresented key facts about the agencies involved. Yet it was presented as evidence in a high-profile speech meant to inflame emotion and harden opinion.
This was not a minor misstatement or an honest error. It was a calculated use of fabricated imagery to frame a political argument, knowing that most viewers would never question what they were shown.
That same instinct to manage perception rather than present reality showed when CNN rigged a “town hall” meeting. A recent Minnesota town hall promoted as a public forum was anything but organic. Critics documented how CNN carefully recruited participants and questioners to tilt the conversation in one ideological direction, heavily favoring left-leaning activists and donors.
Town halls are supposed to reflect the voice of a community. When they are stage-managed to produce a preferred outcome, they become political theater masquerading as journalism. This kind of manipulation deepens public distrust and reinforces the belief that major media organizations are no longer committed to fairness, balance, or transparency.
When the fix is in before the first question is asked, the audience isn’t being informed — it’s being guided.
Taken together, these incidents point to a broader pattern. When facts threaten the narrative, the narrative takes precedence.
Artificial images, curated audiences, selective framing — these are tools of persuasion, not truth-seeking. The danger isn’t simply that falsehoods are told. It’s that repetition normalizes them. Over time, people stop asking whether something is accurate and start asking whether it advances their side. That erosion of shared reality is how societies lose the ability to reason together.
Once truth becomes optional, outrage becomes currency, and deception becomes strategy.
The long-term cost is measured not just in bad policy but in a public that no longer trusts institutions meant to serve it.
Proverbs 14:25 says, “A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies.”
Deception always carries consequences, even when it feels politically expedient. It corrodes credibility, poisons civic discourse, and leaves people vulnerable to manipulation.
Once these narratives are created, an entire media machine, including social media, news networks, wire services, and others jump in and promote the lie using just enough truth to make the lie believable. And while some will eventually see through the tactics, many won’t.
Trouble is, a huge number of people lack discernment and believe these lies, which is, say it with me… Stupidocrisy.
Sources:
https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/se/date/2026-01-28/segment/01