Hot Type: Shotgun Propaganda and Narrative Quicksand
American political columnist Heidi Siegmund Cuda reports on how to get out of the blast zone of Donald Trump's 'muzzle velocity' by stepping back to view the bigger picture

As unelected warlord Elon Musk hacks the government in plain sight in what is easily the greatest data heist in history, Donald Trump is aiming his propaganda shotgun around the world. The Musk-Trump duopoly is an orchestrated affair — they are friends to autocrats everywhere, while simulating strongmen.
Those unfortunate enough to be close to the detonation of Trump’s propaganda ‘shotgun’ will almost certainly find themselves drowning in narrative quicksand. We are not designed to withstand the constant barrage of emotional shelling, and like the trauma triggered in soldiers on a World War I battlefield, the artillery has reached an incomprehensible din.
And that’s exactly the point.
Gaza!
ICC!
DEI!
Greenland!
Mexico!
Tariffs!
Even as he walks back items on that list, he means it all. The walkback is politics. This felon told you who he was and what he planned to do.
But in order to survive his propaganda shotgun, or what Steve Bannon referred to in 2019 as ‘muzzle velocity’, you have to get out of the blast zone.
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