In a move that’s reminiscent of other fascist regimes, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has been caught secretly paying military influencers to support his policies and attack those who criticize or scrutinize the Trump Administration.
Joseph Goebbels was a master at this tactic. He controlled all media, weaponized Big Lie tactics (repeat falsehoods until they became "truth"), and created a total information ecosystem. His propaganda reached saturation—radio, film, posters, education. Devastatingly effective at manufacturing consent for genocide.
Former Chief Prosecutor during the Soviet Union purges, Andrey Vyshinsky was particularly chilling: he proved you could use the forms of justice and legality as propaganda instruments. Under his charge, the Moscow Trials of 1936-1938 looked like legitimate legal proceedings while advancing whatever narrative Stalin needed that week. Vyshinsky made state violence appear rational and just.
Hegseth is no Goebbels, but he is absolutely using fascist tactics to control the public narrative.
Section: The Political Desk · Drawn 2026-08-31 · inkstains.com