We appreciate everyone who attended and helped create an engaging and heartfelt dialogue that transcended borders and beliefs. For those who couldn’t join us, the full replay is available above. But this post is more than just a follow-up; it's a deeper exploration of what this tactic truly is, how it functions, and what we can do to stop it.
We used to think lies were loud—shouted from the rooftops and easily recognized by their shock value. But today’s most dangerous falsehoods are subtle, whispered into the spaces where we’re most vulnerable. They sound almost right, close enough to deceive. And that’s exactly the point.
This tactic is known as the “kernel of truth wrapped in a lie,” and once you learn to spot it, you realize how much of our political discourse, media spin, marketing, and social divisions rely on this one manipulative maneuver.
This isn’t just an American problem; it’s a global phenomenon—spreading from Brazil to the UK, India to Instagram, from authoritarian regimes to everyday conversations..
Trump and the Art of the Kernel
To understand the method, look to the man who’s perfected it.
In The Art of the Deal, Donald Trump coined the phrase “truthful hyperbole”—a technique he described as “an innocent form of exaggeration” that makes statements more compelling. But in politics, that exaggeration isn’t harmless. It becomes a wedge. A weapon.
Trump doesn’t invent concerns. He amplifies them.
Take immigration as an example. Trump doesn’t deny that people care about border security. He doesn’t ignore that Americans are worried about fentanyl, about crime, about systems that feel out of control. In fact, that’s exactly where he starts—with what people are already feeling. That’s the kernel of truth.
Then comes the lie.
“They’re bringing crime. They’re murdering Americans.”
That line—repeated again at CPAC in 2025—was delivered with theatrical confidence, paired with his now-familiar imagery of caravans “flooding” across the border. He claimed drugs were pouring into cities, and criminals were “roaming free.” And the crowd? They roared. The clip? It went viral. The message? It stuck.
But the kernel collapses under scrutiny.
According to the FBI and a 2023 Cato Institute study, undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than native-born citizens. Not more or less. The so-called “murder wave” is a myth. And the fentanyl crisis? Customs data shows that the vast majority enters the U.S. through legal ports of entry—not through night crossings or tunnels. It’s a logistical issue, not an invasion.
And yet, he doesn’t stop.
Instead, he escalates. In a closed-door fundraiser in late 2024, a recording caught him saying:
“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. You wouldn’t believe what they’re doing.”
No, really. That’s what he said.
Not in jest. Not with nuance. With disgust. With the full implication that the “they” in question weren’t just foreign, but monstrous. Less than human.
And that’s the deeper function of the tactic. Once the lie is wrapped around a truth, it opens the door for dehumanization. It licenses cruelty. It makes space for policy decisions that, in another context, would be unthinkable. Family separation. Mass raids. Legal immunity for border patrol shootings. The public accepts these things not because they’re persuaded by data, but because they’ve been emotionally primed to believe they’re under threat.
The lie doesn’t need evidence. It has fear.
It doesn’t need verification. It has repetition.
And even when the truth catches up, it’s often too late. The emotional scar is already there.
This is how falsehood becomes doctrine—not through logic, but through theater. A lie, told often enough and wrapped in just enough reality, becomes memory. It becomes culture.
And unless we name it, slow it down, and expose it, it becomes law.
Global Echoes: Brazil, Brexit, Modi, and Marketing
This isn’t uniquely American.
In Brazil, we’ve seen Jair Bolsonaro exploit fears of crime and corruption—both real—to justify authoritarianism, environmental harm, and attacks on marginalized communities. He didn’t need to invent problems; he simply rooted his narrative in public frustration and then twisted it into nationalism, paranoia, and the suppression of dissent.
In the UK, the Brexit campaign employed a similar tactic. It highlighted economic uncertainty, housing pressures, and NHS strain—valid concerns—and linked them to immigration myths. The result was a national breakdown based on “taking our country back” from a threat that didn’t exist in the way it was presented.
In India, Narendra Modi has played on pride and cultural preservation, then incorporated anti-Muslim rhetoric and the targeting of journalists under the pretense of stability and unity.
It’s not just politicians. This tactic appears everywhere—from ads claiming "Doctors recommend..." without providing data, to using “Natural” as a quick label for “healthy.” Influencers share emotional stories that make you feel safe, then subtly pivot into promoting a product.
All these examples employ a common technique: start with something familiar to lower your guard, then subtly shift the perspective before you realize it.
The Psychology That Makes It Stick
Why We Fall for Lies — and How They're Designed to Trap Us
It’s not just the lie itself — it’s how it's delivered. Our brains are surprisingly vulnerable when fear, identity, and repetition come into play. Understanding the tactics behind these deception techniques can help us see through the illusion.
The Tactics at Play:
Illusory Truth Effect: Repetition makes us believe something is true, regardless of its accuracy. The more emotionally charged a statement is, the faster we accept it as fact.
Identity Protection: When a belief is tied to our group, worldview, or self-image, questioning it feels like questioning ourselves, which is why people double down even when faced with conflicting facts.
Cognitive Ease: Simple stories are more appealing than complex truths. Saying "Immigrants are dangerous” is easier than understanding systemic causes of crime, so the lie feels safer.
Emotional Hijack: Fear overrides logic. When messages evoke anxiety or outrage, our reactions short-circuit rational evaluation, making us vulnerable to manipulation.
The Bottom Line:
People don't want to believe lies, but these lies are packaged to make us feel safe, justified, or righteous. Recognizing these tactics is the first step to seeing the truth.
Action Step:
Stay aware of emotional appeals and repetitive messages. Question narratives that feel too simple or too emotionally charged, and seek out the complex truth behind the surface.
The Case Study: One Lie, Many Consequences
Let’s break one down together.
Not hypothetically. Let’s walk into one of the most repeated and destructive examples of this tactic in action.
At CPAC in 2025, Trump declared:
“Illegal immigrants are pouring in, bringing crime and drugs, murdering Americans in our cities at unprecedented rates.”
And for the crowd, it landed. Not because it was true, but because it played to fear. And like so many of his statements, it didn’t stop there.
In a closed-door event just a few weeks earlier, he went further, saying:
“They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. You wouldn’t believe what they’re doing.”
Let that sit for a moment.
This wasn’t a policy argument. It wasn’t even veiled racism—it was straight-up dehumanization. Delivered with disgust. Packaged to provoke. Designed to turn immigrants into something other. Something frightening. Something feral.
And yet, it started with something real.
Here’s what’s true:
Violent crime is a real issue in some American cities.
The fentanyl crisis has devastated communities across the country.
People are scared, frustrated, and looking for someone to blame.
But here’s what’s false:
There is no evidence that undocumented immigrants are the primary source of violent crime in the U.S.
According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting data, native-born citizens commit significantly more violent crimes than undocumented immigrants.
A 2023 Cato Institute study showed that undocumented immigrants have lower incarceration rates than the general U.S. population.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that most fentanyl comes through legal points of entry, often hidden in commercial vehicles, not carried on foot over the border.
And that “dog and cat” claim? That’s not just offensive—it’s provably false.
Local officials in the town Trump was referring to came forward almost immediately. Residents, law enforcement, even small business owners—all confirmed the accusations were not just exaggerated, they were fabricated.
“We’ve had no reports of that here,” one city council member told reporters. “The individuals he's referring to are actually working legally—some under temporary visas—and helping fill critical labor shortages in agriculture and construction. Frankly, without them, a lot of local businesses would’ve shut down.”
These weren’t shadowy criminals or mythical invaders. They were workers—many with paperwork—doing the jobs no one else wanted, in a town that welcomed the help.
But none of that went viral. None of that got clipped by right-wing influencers or pumped through social media with dramatic music and scary statistics.
Because facts don’t travel like fear.
This is how the kernel of truth works. It begins with a real anxiety—rising rent, a scary headline, a sense that something is broken. Then it wraps that anxiety around a villain. “They’re coming for your towns.” “They’re eating your pets.” “They’re flooding your streets with drugs.”
It’s not a policy strategy. It’s a psychological one.
And even when fact-checkers at CNN, The Washington Post, or the local news step in the next day, even when they calmly debunk the claims, the emotional damage is already done.
Because of the story? The image? The fear?
It already did its job.
That’s the power of a kernel of truth wrapped in a lie. It doesn’t persuade you with logic. It’s like a weed that burrows in through emotion—and stays there.
What Do We Do About It?
We don’t solve this problem with fact sheets alone.
You’ve probably already sensed that.
You send the article, share the chart, post the fact-check link — and still, the lie spreads. Not because it’s better, but because it’s faster, simpler, hungrier.
So no, we don’t win this battle with more PDFs and polished reports.
We win it through a different kind of truth work—human strategy, not just media strategy.
This kind of truth moves through people rather than around them.
That’s why we proposed a framework with five practical 'tips' for breaking the influence of a lie once it’s taken hold.
Let’s breathe life into these practices and make that change, one comment at a time.
1. Call it what it is. Say the tactic out loud.
When someone repeats a distortion—on TV, online, across the dinner table—don’t just argue the facts. Name the tactic.
"That’s a truth wrapped in a lie."
"That’s fear-mongering. That’s not analysis."
"That’s designed to divide us."
By naming the move, you pull back the curtain. You expose the play. And when people see the game for what it is, they don’t fall for it so easily.
🛠️ Try this: Next time you hear someone say, “Well, you know, a lot of them are criminals,” pause. Say: “That’s exactly the kind of thing we’re talking about—a scary generalization wrapped around one real issue. That’s how people get manipulated.” No heat. Just clarity.
2. Lead with empathy, land with truth.
Facts alone don’t melt fear. But kindness might make space for the truth to emerge.
When you meet someone entrenched in a harmful narrative, start by listening to the emotion underneath it.
"I get why that’s scary."
"Yeah, I’ve felt overwhelmed by it too."
Then—“But can I show you something I found?”
This isn’t about coddling lies. It’s about disarming the emotional armor so the truth has a chance to be heard.
🛠️ Try this: Write down one phrase that acknowledges fear without endorsing the falsehood. Use it. Then follow it with one link, one quote, or one story that gently corrects the record.
3. Don’t wait to fact-check. Do it in the moment.
The lie spreads in real time. If the truth doesn’t meet it there, it loses.
You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t need a journalism degree. You just need to speak up before the echo chamber closes in.
"I actually looked that up—it’s not what the numbers say."
"That claim’s been debunked. Let me send you the source."
"I used to think that too, until I saw this..."
You’d be amazed how powerful gentle interruption can be. You don’t need to win. You just need to slow the spiral.
🛠️ Try this: Use voice memos or a pinned Note with 2–3 go-to fact-check links (FBI crime stats, Cato’s immigration report, etc). That way, when the moment hits, you're ready.
4. Call out the enablers. The silence is part of the lie.
There are people—elected officials, influencers, TV hosts—who know better.
And they still push the false narrative because it keeps them in power. Or clicks. Or both.
They didn’t start the fire. But they’re standing there with a gas can, smiling.
Call that what it is: complicity.
If a politician is echoing Trump’s “murdering immigrants” myth, and they’ve read the same data we have, they’re choosing distortion over integrity.
If a media figure is sharing a clip of lies with no correction or context, they’re not being neutral. They’re being useful to the machinery of the lie.
🛠️ Try this: Tag them. Email them. Comment on their platform. Not with rage—with receipts. “Why are you amplifying a claim that was already debunked by three sources?” It only takes a few voices to break their comfort.
5. Build better spaces.
This isn’t just about defending the truth. It’s about creating new spaces where truth can flourish without being overwhelmed by noise.
That’s why we created Kornerz.
Because most platforms don’t reward honesty, they reward speed. Outrage. Echoes.
But we’re not trying to go viral. We’re trying to go deep. To create space for questions, slowness, real disagreement, and hard truths that don’t get boiled down into slogans.
Kornerz is people, not algorithms.
It’s a space where your thoughts don’t get buried. Where your nuance matters. Where calling out a lie doesn’t mean getting swallowed by the machine.
🛠️ Try this: If you found clarity here, invite one person into Kornerz. Someone who wants more than spin. Someone who’s tired of being manipulated but doesn’t know where else to go. This is for them too.
If truth is to survive in public life, it must exist somewhere.
Not just in articles or fact-checking sites, but in us.
In how we speak, how we listen, and what we build together.
Let’s be the place where distortion dies.
And let’s give people a way back to what’s real, without shame. Without silence. Without delay.
It is up to all of us to step up worldwide and speak out against this. Our voices matter—together, we can spark change across the globe.
Social media is a powerful two-way tool; by actively participating and calling out what matters, we motivate our friends and family to do the same.
Small actions can create a ripple effect, helping loved ones see why standing up for what’s right is important. It's not about taking on the whole world but about noticing small issues and calling them out so your friends and family can see.
Get the Kornerz Social Network App Today.
It’s your neighborhood for real talk, real people, and real connections.
Join us next time—Kornerz Substack Live
AI: Our Unexpected Ally
Here’s where things get interesting.
Amid the noise, manipulation, and half-truths flooding your feed, there’s also something else within your reach now. During the live, Rich made this clear:
AI, when used with intention, can act as a truth assistant in your pocket.
This isn't a crystal ball or a shortcut to certainty, but a practical tool—quick, precise, and readily available. It acts as a pause button during rapid shifts, a mirror when something seems wrong, and a map when the landscape becomes complex.
Beyond simple fact-checking or verifying quotes, it can save hours by uncovering facts, cutting through spin, and showing the full story.
Imagine this:
✳️ “Is this quote real?”
Paste it in. The AI will pull from news transcripts, legal documents, and verified records—so you’re not debating based on memory or vibes. You’re anchored in truth.✳️ “What’s misleading in this meme or post?”
It won’t just point out what’s false. It’ll show you how the manipulation works—why that font, that image, that phrasing was chosen to hit you in the gut before you had time to think.✳️ “Rewrite this with truth and empathy.”
You don’t want to yell. You want to reach. Ask the AI to help you reframe your response—so you still say what needs to be said, but in a way that someone else might actually hear.✳️ “What narratives are trending today?”
In five seconds, you can find what’s circulating in political circles, influencer groups, or fringe networks—what’s being said, who’s saying it, and how far it’s spreading.✳️ “Give me a breakdown of this issue from multiple sides.”
Whether it's immigration, gender policy, AI regulation, or foreign affairs—ask for a 360° view. AI can pull arguments, rebuttals, statistics, and historical context from across the web. What once took four hours of research now takes four minutes.
This isn’t magic—it's literacy. It’s about learning to sift through noise to find meaningful signals, not by rote memorization, but by asking better questions. When used properly, AI doesn’t replace your judgment; it enhances it.
It frees up your time, offers new perspectives, and creates space for reflection. That moment of pause—between what you hear and what you believe—is more impactful than any headline or algorithm. It’s where discernment resides and clarity begins.
Make that a habit. Embrace that shift. Let it become your advantage in this age of distortion.
The Media is Catching On—Slowly
Newsrooms Are Beginning to Catch Up
It used to take a full news cycle to uncover a lie. Now? The top outlets are racing the lie in real time.
In June 2025, something rare happened: MSNBC cut away from a Trump speech mid-broadcast. Not because of a protest or a technical issue, but because the falsehoods were coming so fast that it wasn't responsible to air them. They paused the broadcast, added live corrections with AI-powered overlays, and fact-checked the claims before they could influence viewers’ perceptions.
It wasn’t just bold. It was necessary.
CNN’s Daniel Dale—famous for tracking Trump’s falsehoods since 2016—now uses AI-assisted tools that help him verify quotes, dates, numbers, and legislation almost instantly. Within minutes of a rally, press conference, or a Truth Social rant, Dale can publish detailed analyses because he’s no longer working alone. He has a research engine on his side.
The BBC and Reuters have quietly implemented AI-based systems in their control rooms. These tools alert producers to questionable statements during interviews, enabling them to address issues in real-time instead of correcting them after the damage has occurred.
In a world where timing is everything, the truth is often the first casualty. Today, acting after an event is almost always too late. The clever tactic? Hide the truth within a web of falsehoods, then shout it loud and fast to claim the spotlight. When the correction finally comes, it often goes unnoticed, leaving the original lie to take hold.
But here's the real challenge: the future of truth doesn't depend solely on having better facts. It rests on our ability to close the gap between falsehood and correction — to develop systems that keep up with manipulation and audiences that demand agility.
This isn’t going away anytime soon. Politicians, influencers, and marketers will continue to refine their strategies. So, the key question for us as viewers and voters: Are we willing to recognize and resist these tactics?
We can't simply rely on others to discern fact from fiction. Instead, we must push for better tools, quality journalism, and stricter standards where truth matters most. If these efforts fall short, it’s up to us to create them.
This is the mission of Kornerz, to protect the integrity of truth. Remember, the fight for honesty isn't just political — it's personal.
Are you ready to join the struggle?
Closing Words & Your Turn
Thank you all for reading and joining us on this journey to expose the lies obscuring our truths.
Have you ever believed something that felt so true, yet later found out it wasn’t? Or been afraid to question a belief because of who you might be separated from?
These are common struggles, and you're not alone. What do you do when someone you love repeats a lie wrapped in something that seems real?
How do we hold onto our truth without alienating others?
Drop your thoughts below—share your story, ask a question, or add a resource that helped you. The more we name these tactics together, the less power they hold. Remember, the truth is strongest when it has evidence to back it.
Let’s work together to find that strength.
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It’s your neighborhood for real talk, real people, and real connections.
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🗓 Mondays @ 8 PM ET
🗓 Thursdays @ 12 PM ET
Questions? Topic requests? Want to be a guest? Reply and let us know.
We appreciate your presence for tackling tough questions, providing truthful responses, and believing that tomorrow holds promise for change.
Thank you for shaping Kornerz into a community where boundaries are more than just lines; they are dynamic opportunities. Let’s continue the conversation.
—
With you, always—
Khalil & Rich
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