WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • Logan says midterm propaganda increasingly comes from the “so-called right.”
  • She compares the current climate to the 2020 election.
  • Logan warns about bots, operatives, and paid political influencers.
  • She urges voters to think independently and not stay home.

Lara Logan is warning voters to be skeptical of political narratives surrounding the upcoming midterm elections, arguing that propaganda efforts have evolved since 2016 and are now increasingly being pushed through voices that present themselves as conservative.

Logan said the atmosphere surrounding the midterms reminds her of the political and media environment ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

"Here's a quick update for you on the midterm elections. The one thing that stands out to me right now is the similarity between this midterm election and the way things were looking and feeling in 2020," Logan said.

She traced that comparison back to the 2016 presidential race, arguing that mainstream outlets were heavily invested in the expectation that Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump.

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"Do you remember how in 2016 they used the legacy media or the mainstream media, whatever you want to call them, the CNNs, the ABCs, the CBSs-they were the ones that were used to carry this narrative that Hillary Clinton was destined to be the next president, the first female president of the United States of America," Logan said.

She pointed to the reaction after Trump defeated Clinton as evidence of how confident parts of the media had been in the expected outcome.

"And then what happened? Remember the scenes when she lost to Donald Trump? Remember how there were reporters who were tearful when they were on air? How some of them were even crying, how Hillary didn't even have a concession speech because she was so certain that she was going to win," she said.

According to Logan, the experience of 2016 changed the way political messaging was handled in 2020. She argued that influence efforts moved away from relying primarily on traditionally liberal news organizations and instead made greater use of conservative media.

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"Well, they learned their lesson, right? So when it came to 2020, they didn't use the mainstream media this time. They didn't use the liberal press. They didn't use the political operatives right in the networks. They turned instead to the so-called conservative media, the bastion of conservative media, which was at the time Fox News," Logan said.

She specifically cited Fox News calling Arizona for Joe Biden while much of the vote remained uncounted.

"That's why Fox were the ones to call Arizona with less than 10 percent of the vote counted. Right? They called it for Biden," Logan said.

She also pointed to statements made by Fox personalities after the election.

"That's why you saw Fox, you know, make their anchors and their on-air people had to make statements after the 2020 election, saying, 'Okay, you know, we've given Trump the benefit of the doubt. Now it's time to admit that he lost," Logan said.

Logan characterized those events as part of a broader effort originating from inside conservative media.

"What did they do? They led the steal from the conservative side," she said.

She argued that the situation changed again in 2024, when Trump won the presidential election.

"Then, if you go to 2024, well, they kind of lost control there, right? They went back to sort of the legacy media side of it, because they didn't really have a choice," Logan said.

According to Logan, political influence efforts then shifted back toward individuals and accounts presenting themselves as conservative.

"But the moment Trump won in 2024, they began to unleash their assets on the conservative side," she said.

Logan claimed those efforts can involve several different types of participants.

"So some of these are bots, some of them are political operatives, some of them are people who've been paid off or bought off, or some of them may have been corrupt, right, and they've run into trouble," she said.

As the midterms approach, Logan said she believes much of the propaganda campaign is now being driven from within what appears to be the political right.

"But what you're seeing happen is that the midterm elections, the assault, in terms of the propaganda, right, is being run in large part from the right, from the so-called right, from the so-called conservatives," Logan said.

She said that pattern explains why the current political environment feels familiar to her.

"So that's why it feels so familiar to me," Logan said.

Rather than telling voters which political voices to trust, Logan urged people to independently evaluate what they are hearing and resist narratives designed to convince them that participating in the election is pointless.

"So I would just caution everybody who is listening to all of this. I would urge you to make up your own mind, think for yourself, don't take things at face value, and most of all, don't let them steal your vote by discouraging you to the point where you just stay home."

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