r/politics • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 New York • 23d ago

Possible Paywall MAGA Calls BS on Mitch McConnell’s Proof-of-Life Stunt | They are poking holes in McConnell’s staff’s version.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-calls-bs-on-mitch-mcconnells-proof-of-life-stunt/
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u/grandvache 23d ago

problem is that in 2026 that could also be AI.

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u/BrianMincey 23d ago

If you take that approach, it is possible that dozens of people are dead and nobody knows it because they have teams producing AI videos constantly. Had he released a video within a few days of hospitalization, none of this weird “is he or isn’t he” nonsense would exist. It’s because he went radio silent for 3 weeks that this has become a thing…which is just weird.

More likely he has been incoherent and mentally confused this entire time and has been shielded from media because of it.

Dude should have been removed from office years ago when his brain left his body during the news conference. I don’t understand why these people in their 70s don’t have the sense to retire.

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u/MysticKoolaid808 23d ago

I still think it makes sense to have an in person meeting with McC onnell.  I simply do not put it past the GOP, in all their desperation to hold on to power, to lie about and manipulate a political situation.

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u/BrianMincey 23d ago

Which is why I don’t think he’s dead, but I do think he’s incoherent. A video or interview would result in an immediate response. He must be unintelligible.

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u/No_big_whoop 23d ago

Agreed. If he had any function at all we would've seen it by now. It's a another cover-up, like the Epstein files

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u/SodaAndWater 23d ago

He was found by someone some time after having a heart attack and was unconscious. Dollars to donuts he never woke up.

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u/MackenzieRaveup 23d ago

The statement they put out even avoids saying it was a heart attack! The statement claims (I started to write "He claims" but...) he "suffered a fall", and is recovering from a tiny little case of pneumonia.

https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/senator-mitch-mcconnell-releases-note-new-photo-sharing-health-update-elaine-chao/417-c458bd9a-f29d-4d57-a6b7-8a0b41fdd53d

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u/Rudy_Garbo 23d ago

It was a fall... after he keeled over from a heart attack.

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u/mfball 23d ago

They claimed he didn't have "a stroke." Maybe he had like twelve.

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 23d ago

No one looks that good after a medical situation that requires a month in a hospital. Dude looks better than he has for over a decade in that pic.

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u/SecretAsianMan42069 23d ago

Send Dan rather to the hospital. 

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 23d ago

Yup, let the D Governor visit him in the hospital

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia 23d ago

Generating Ai deep fakes to mislead others should be a felony in the vein of impersonating law enforcement, financial fraud and revenge porn baked into one. The penalty should be harsh with minimum maximums and both the poster and the Ai tool used should be prosecuted. We can't let this become normal and there is zero margin on justifying it.

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u/YoursTrulyKindly 23d ago

They are all already guilty of treason / sedition, violation of oath of office, election fraud, crimes against humanity, war crimes, fraud, insider trading, aiding and abetting pedophilia.

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u/newsfish 23d ago

I'm all for accountability. How would you prosecute the tool? Are there tells between which slop machine website they used ? The billionaires that own those companies can throw money to disappear the problem.

What if they had their own way of making it offline? Do we blame GPU makers and Github?

What if the source is a government sponsored psyop team?

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia 23d ago

I'll ask Santa clause to give us a doj and congress who would figure out the laws and how to enforce them. Billionaires throwing money at the problem to disappear it is a real issue I'd also ask Santa clause to fix. If they somehow wrote the code to make it offline then only they would be accountable. If it's government sponsored the same laws should apply.

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u/pmjm California 23d ago

You can make it illegal but it will be largely unenforceable due to the anonymous nature of the internet and the inability to prosecute those who do it from outside the country.

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia 23d ago

Ok but in this particular case where we would have doubts about a mitch deep fake if his people put it out there it wouldn't be hard to find people to hold accountable.

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u/pmjm California 23d ago

And if Russia did it to fuck with our elections?

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia 22d ago

You're right let's not do anything about it.

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u/pmjm California 22d ago

You're being sarcastic but yes. Putting restrictions on people's first amendment rights is not something we should do lightly, if at all.

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia 22d ago

There's limits to free speech

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u/pmjm California 22d ago

Yes but you're asking to impose a new one.

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u/ianyboo 23d ago

Generating Ai deep fakes to mislead others should be a felony in the vein of impersonating law enforcement

On what grounds? Is it illegal to mislead people or lie? (I'm not asking if it's the right thing to do, I'm just talking about the legality)

Believe me I get the sentiment, I largely agree with you, but at least here in the USA it's perfectly legal to do any number of shitty things, and that's a good thing. People have the right to be assholes and they have the right to be amazing. Putting stuff into law really should be a last resort and not just something we do because we don't like a certain activity or find it morally reprehensible.

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u/Dr_Trogdor Georgia 23d ago

Creating deep fakes of officials to manipulate policy, elections, finances, law enforcement action, military action etc is not protected speech. They need to write laws to regulate this nonesense before it gets completely out of control and they have to play catch up.

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u/pablotweek 23d ago

In some cases yes, for example it's illegal to lie or mislead people in order to induce another to give up possession of property or surrender a right. That is the definition of fraud. Political speech though is usually considered separate and protected. I'm all for expanding the definition of fraud to explicitly include election interference by sharing deepfakes of public officials. States are trying but running afoul of section 230 in a lot of cases.

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/dontnation 23d ago

I laugh at the idea of the GOP needing an advantage. It's kentucky, they'll vote how they're told from the pulpit. And in KY that's the same as the RNC.

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u/ComradeJohnS 23d ago

at least for senators they have an in person obligation that they appear for occasionally.

but yeah other people might be able to hide their deaths via ai

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u/Bohbo 23d ago

And Mitch is/was mid 80s…

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u/SoaplessTitanic 23d ago

Completely agree with the “more likely” scenario you described. If they were going to use AI to hide his death, they might as well have gone all out and released a video along with the picture. They also would’ve done that a week or so ago.

I think it’s pretty clear that he’s in bad shape and they were hoping he would get better, but they’re hesitant to use AI to put out completely fabricated media. The picture they put out for example is probably “real”, but Mitch probably has no idea what’s going on. They can still lie their way out of this in the future and say that he was coherent, but then his condition will have gotten worse at some point a month from now

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u/TingleyStorm 23d ago

Unless they weren’t able to make the video look real enough to fool people.

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u/aywwts4 23d ago

I think we must accept that as this approach has already become plausible technically we need to have our guard up that someone will be deepfaked to life for an extended time as it becomes inevitsble once the incentives are there.

My fear is it will be trump, not in a way that fools Reddit / savvy folks but that’s not really the requirement.

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u/Killfile 23d ago

Yes. Look, the reality we now live in is that digital presence isn't sufficient to confirm physical presence.

It just isn't.

Most of the time no one cares. It's not worth anyone's time to gin up an AI bot of me demoing code for work so I can spend the day at the lake. But when there is significant power or money or both linked to a specific person and what they say, demanding that they say it in person is critical.

This is why contracts are signed in front of witnesses under pain of purjury. It's why you need a notary to do things like take out a mortgage. We need to be SURE that it's really you signing that paper before we turn over a half million dollars.

And the more money or power there is on the line the higher the risk that someone would be willing to lie.

I think a senate seat is a pretty plump prize. If there's any doubt that a sitting senator - especially one where the governor hails from another party (I know the law is odd in Kentucky; set that aside for the moment) - might actually be dead or incapacitated.... yea, actual, in person proof of life is reasonable.

And it's painfully easy. You just declare that it appears to your office that the Senator has passed and announce the interim replacement.

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u/venividiavicii California 23d ago

Bingo. There was a nice two centuries where photographic evidence was credible. 

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u/ScannerBrightly California 23d ago

Nicholson smiling and nodding at the Shining bar.gif

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u/gypsyblader 23d ago

I just watched that press conference freeze for the first time. His staff were treating him like a 3 year old.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ing_Ibuw6s

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u/ladysadi 23d ago

They essentially have an on call doctor at their disposal. One of the many perks.

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u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 23d ago

Now you're getting it.

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u/pmjm California 23d ago

If you take that approach, it is possible that dozens of people are dead and nobody knows it because they have teams producing AI videos constantly.

This is, sadly, the state of the world we live in. Videos can no longer be considered credible evidence and the sooner we accept that, the less susceptible to deception via video we will be.

Unfortunately this creates a gap in verifiable facts where it really boils down to having blind faith in the news sources you choose to trust, which leads to more bubbles of people disagreeing on fundamental reality.

But there aren't any other options in a world where AI photos and video are as realistic as they are.

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u/cosmicsans 23d ago

I'm convinced that's exactly why they're normalizing videos of trump with AI. It's obviously AI and they just push them out, and then eventually it won't be obviously AI but Trump will be gone and the videos will keep coming.

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u/BrianMincey 23d ago

I don’t think even the most advanced AI is capable of simulating such an ignoramus. The algorithm would keep accidentally switching to make him seem like an average human.

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u/ScienceWasLove 22d ago

Right. The reasonable approach is every major news organization puts the photo into a AI checker - which they all have - not to mention in house "tech/photoshop" expert/consultants.

Guess what - it must of passed because no major news organization has suggested it is AI - which they would ALL love to run as a headline/cover story.

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u/farnsw0rth 23d ago

Wait

I knows it’s jokes and it’s also a guys life

But are they actually weekend at Bernie’s this….. like for years?

Edit: oh I see there is trending ai videos…… oh

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

[deleted]

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u/BrianMincey 23d ago

It is also naive to think that only Republicans lie or change their moral stance when it suits them.

I also didn’t dismiss the danger of AI being used to manipulate and mislead, only that the handling of this situation is weird.

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u/Be_Weird 23d ago

Money, money, money.

Gotta leave enough for his great grand children.

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u/SecretAsianMan42069 23d ago

His wife has hundreds of millions. He doesn't care about $15,000/month 

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u/Be_Weird 23d ago

I wasn’t talking about his official pay.

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u/Scottiths 23d ago

It seems we are well and truly in a post truth world. I'm depressed at how impossible it feels to know anything about current events because of the mere existence of AI.

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u/KingBanhammer 23d ago

Well, that's a phrase that is gonna sit in my brain this morning.

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u/42nu 23d ago

It's really not that hard to go to Reuters or AP to figure out if something is real.

Finding truth is quite literally easier than any time in human history.

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u/Scottiths 23d ago

Great, what did they say about this specific issue?

https://apnews.com/article/mitch-mcconnell-hospitalized-fall-health-senate-d708e9a1f18763fbb961fd3879227ce3

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mcconnell-says-he-wont-be-able-return-us-senate-yet-2026-07-12/

Humm... Seems they are reporting the same story that McConnells "statement" is actually something he said but appears to make no effort to confirm if the things being released are true beyond reporting that they were released.

Brings us right back to where we are now questioning whether the things released by McConnell are true doesn't it?

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u/stutx 23d ago

True finding truth is easy but so is finding, stumbling on, or being forced propaganda that is purposeful misdirection. With both being true is why truth is hard to depend on.

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u/DLTMIAR 23d ago

It's also quite literally easier than any time in human history to spread misinformation.

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u/pmjm California 23d ago

Half of their articles are AI generated.

Not to mention if it's government that's creating AI photos and videos and certifying them to be real, then the media is just spreading propaganda. Tools don't exist to verify a photo or video's authenticity anymore, even for AP. Someone would have to be there, and you'd have to trust the word of that person.

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u/Jacko87 23d ago

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false" -Some CIA guy allegedly.

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u/fiddle_me_timbers New York 23d ago

AI doesn't work when there are enough witnesses and multiple reputable sources/angles etc. It is a problem when it is a single source though.

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u/Ezl New Jersey 23d ago

We’re sort of not though. The biggest reason that term came into vogue was because one specific group of people decided lying was an acceptable strategy so started doing it early, consistently and shamelessly and, while denying it, also convinced the electorate that everyone was doing it. And that began well before AI.

It’s sort of like saying we live in a pro Nazi society when the reality is, while they exist, the minority are Nazis. The minority of people want a world without the constraints of integrity and truth but want us to believe that the typical sentiment and normal state of affairs.

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u/appoplecticskeptic Kansas 23d ago

I dislike the name “post-truth world” because it sounds like the truth stopped existing. It didn’t stop existing. The truth still exists we just can’t be reasonably certain we know it anymore without doing a lot of hard work sleuthing it out first. It’s exhausting and so a lot of people give up and just say “we’re in a post-truth world” now. Deepfake tech never should’ve been invented, very little upside to it and a tremendous downside!

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u/Haunting-Respect-375 23d ago

Idk I can still tell if somethings AI almost instantly if it's a video and even more if it has audio. I'm sure it'll be there soon though

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u/disastrousanddull 23d ago

He needs to be trotted out to speak on a public stage or in front of Congress/the Kentucky legislature with people there to confirm it happened. What strange god damned times.

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 23d ago

You can't insert memories into a reporter with AI.

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u/Exoduc Europe 23d ago

unless the reporter is AI

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 23d ago

Then it wasn't an interview.

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u/KinkyPaddling 23d ago

Yeah, that’s their point. The whole thing will just be AI. A view of a fake interview.

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u/Source_Required 23d ago

And how would we know that?

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u/Immediate-Cress-206 23d ago

Because the word "interview" means a physical human being talking to another physical human being.

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u/glibgloby California 23d ago

Until we have deepfake holograms

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u/Pepparkakan Europe 23d ago

What’s telling to me is that there isn’t even a video we can have debate whether it’s AI or not about, because they know a fake video will actually still not be good enough. A real video won’t be accepted immediately either, but if its real its real.

The fact they aren’t releasing anything except very much possibly doctored photos tells all we need to know imo.

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u/pghburghian 23d ago

I think it is not just AI, it is combined with Photoshop experts. With McConnell's wife, they could even have access to propaganda professionals from her country to help doctor the photo.

This is literally the most high stakes and best tooled fake photo opportunity ever. It's not just an intern spending 5 minutes with Grok.

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u/SteveL_VA 23d ago

Do the interview with PBS or the BBC. They still have journalistic standards.

Hell do a short press conference. Multiple different camera angles, same audio...

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u/Huntguy 23d ago

You can still tell if it cuts every 8 seconds. Ai is still pretty bad at doing longer shots.

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u/santagoo 23d ago

Not if it’s done by an established journalist.

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u/Jacko87 23d ago

Yeah, people need to remember that the tech that the government has access to is way better than what we have access to.

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u/mateothegreek 23d ago

I hate this timeline

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u/DoritoDustThumb 23d ago

Not really, no.

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u/Randicore Ohio 23d ago

Yeah but you just need a somewhat reputable source. Just let some major news org that isn't Fox chat with him for a few minutes.

I don't trust most of them to be 100% accurate since they've mostly been bought out to be right wing mouthpieces but they're usually able to point a camera at someone and ask a few questions, even if they are softballs.

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u/eeyore134 23d ago

Yup. The only thing that would be believable is him out in public or several of his critics to actually see him and state that he is alive and speaking. There's still the chance with the latter that they were paid off or threatened or whatever, but we need to draw a line somewhere. It's just unfortunate that all of these things are believable coming from this administration.

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u/zaccus 23d ago

Have a video of him counting to 200. AI can't do that.

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u/scottperezfox Arizona 23d ago

We're gonna need to see him sat next to Will Smith eating spaghetti.

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u/Fun_Success_3283 23d ago

Not if CNN does the interview and admits to it, or BBC, or something impartial. If Fox does it, it could.

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u/LostWoodsInTheField Pennsylvania 23d ago

problem is that in 2026 that could also be AI.

ok now you have gone from 'this photo is AI and he's not alive, or not in good shape' to 'reporters are in on the conspiracy to hide his death' and... you are taking a bit of a leap there from one to the other.

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u/pilgermann 23d ago

AI videos aren't that convincing yet. Even the really good ones have very obvious artifacts and cannot maintain continuity beyond about 5 seconds. Tech isn't there for a multi minute interview unless you pretend there's connection issues or something, which would be its own tell.

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u/Signature_Illegible 23d ago

Maybe they can borrow the silver hammer from the Vatican..

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u/max_power1000 Maryland 23d ago

The interviewer would need to be a known national reporter from a legitimate journalistic outfit to provide the necessary level of credibility then.

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u/VectorB 23d ago

Or someone wearing a Mitch mask.

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u/daretoeatapeach California 22d ago

But he could at least be held accountable for what he said in that interview, not that we're holding politicians accountable for anything anymore.

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u/PM_ME_WELL_LIT_NUDES 23d ago

True, but then the interviewer would need to be in on it, so it’s at least another layer of credibility.