How GOP's Propaganda Empire Convinced America That War Is Peace

For at least a few decades, Republicans and Democrats have been following two very different strategies when it comes to political messaging. And the GOP is doing it effectively — making big, bold statements — while cautious Democrats are getting wiped out.

Republicans are leading public opinion while Democrats are trying to chase it. That does not work.

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TRANSCRIPT
One part is selling a big lie; the other can't sell the truth. And here's the interesting thing about this: political scientists have discovered—and this is kind of a revelation over the last couple of years, maybe the last couple of decades—that politicians, you know, it's always been believed that politicians, by and large, follow public opinion. But actually, politicians can lead public opinion. In fact, they very often do.

I think FDR was probably a good example of that—LBJ as well. Ronald Reagan, too, for that matter. And the Republicans have been driving public opinion in a big way.

The example I think is most shocking is the one the New York Times reported on. In 2008, only 6% of Americans agreed with the statement, “A woman’s place is in the home.” Today, 48% of Republican men and 37% of Republican women agree with that sentiment. It's still around 6% for Democrats, but Republicans have shifted their worldview on the role of women in society. Almost half of Republican men—and over a third of Republican women—think that women should simply stay home. Their place is in the kitchen and the bedroom.

How did this come about? Because the Republican Party has been promoting this kind of twisted masculinity now for at least a decade and a half. And I think you could argue much longer. I mean, just look at Donald Trump. He cheated on all three of his wives. Elon Musk has produced at least 14 children, three of them with three different women in one year. And this is viewed by young men today as admirable—these guys are their role models.

And to put a cherry on top, Trump just brought—what was it?—Andrew Tate and his brother, a couple of alleged rapists, over from Europe, where they were being held in jail for rape or assault charges. The Republican Party has been at the lead of this.

You see this, by the way, among their elected officials. While easily a third—maybe approaching half—of elected Democrats are women, it's a small fraction for Republicans. And of the appointed Republicans—look at the Trump administration—the women he put in positions of power, like Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi, are women who have exaggerated their sexuality to appeal to men. It’s this “woman’s role” type of woman.

This is just one example of how the GOP, or Republican politicians, have successfully altered American public opinion.

Meanwhile, what are Democrats doing? Democrats have been having their consultants find out what public opinion is and then try to frame policies around that. But public opinion is being shaped by Republicans, which is why the Democrats have been moving to the right—because they’re chasing a public opinion that’s being altered by the Republicans.

Then you get this wackadoodle stuff. There was a retreat a couple of weeks ago funded by Third Way—a remnant of Bill Clinton’s 1990s neoliberalism. One of their primary conclusions was that Democratic politicians need to move away from the left. Here’s a verbatim quote from their summary: