Create a false narrative then report on the narrative as if you had nothing to do with creating it.

[gratuitous]

10. It happened again over the weekend

chucktodd had Secretary Buttigieg on to chat, and Buttigieg had a nice rundown of all the accomplishments of the Biden administration. chucktodd grudgingly agreed that those accomplishments were indeed accomplishments, but why wasn't the administration getting any benefit from those accomplishments. Buttigieg, a far finer person than me, stated that he was confident the American people were noticing things like infrastructure spending and better jobs at higher pay. chucktodd again retreated to his safe haven to note that in the circles he runs in, nobody's talking about the Biden administration's record.

Me? I would have reached across the desk, smacked that stupid goatee off his insipid face, and told him in no uncertain terms and at greatly increased volume that reporting the news was supposed to be his job.