THE TRUMP BASE JUST WANTS TO BE REASSURED THAT IT'S RIGHT, AND LIES ARE GETTING THAT DONE

Here are a couple of responses to the execution of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis yesterday:

I disagree with Stonekettle on a couple of points. The Trump administration will continue to lie about what happened here, but within hours of Pretti's murder, the lead story at The New York Times was "Videos Appear to Contradict Federal Account of Fatal Shooting" -- and now it's simply "Videos Contradict Federal Accounts of Fatal Shooting." The Washington Post leads with "Federal Agent Secured Gun from Minn. Man Before Fatal Shooting, Videos Show." CNN's Dana Bash pushed back on Greg Bovino of the Border Patrol when he tried to advance the administration's narrative:

Dana Bash grills Bovino to provide any evidence that Alex Pretti "assaulted law enforcement" and Bovino has absolutely nothing

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 25, 2026 at 9:26 AM

Referring to members of the administration, Stonekettle says, "MAGAs know they are lying." But they don't. We think they can watch the videos we've watched, see the Alex Pretti never reached for his gun, see that he was disarmed before he was shot, learn that he had the legal right to carry a weapon, and reach the same conclusions we do. But they won't do that.

They're not embracing the administration's version of events out of fear, as Stonekettle suggests. They're embracing it because they want to be reassured at all times that the people they like are right and the people they dislike are evil. They want Bovino and other members of the administration to tell them that they don't need to watch the videos of the incident -- if Trump officials say that Pretti was violently assaulting federal agents, they believe it, and that settles it. If he says this took place in the midst of a "riot," as he did at another point in the interview, they believe that too. Assertions by Trumpist talking heads serve as evidence, even if actual video evidence contradicts what the Trumpists are saying.

Video has value because it reveals the truth to people on the left and in the center who want to know what really happened. But Republican voters don't want to know what really happened. They want to be told that they're right. They want people they regard as authorities to tell them what they see in these videos (or what they would see if they watched them). Lies keep them loyal, so the lying will continue and the base will remain onboard.