I’ve posted in the past on the “Begging the question” fallacy where you assert that something is true, despite actual events, and assert everyone agrees with this. This method is common in corporate and government propaganda efforts.

Here is an old post with a link to prior posts on the subject: Begging the Question Fallacy: “This is not who we are” … again and again and again …  – Social Panic

For example, when UAL inappropriately and violently removed Dr. David Dao from an airline flight, causing a long-lasting traumatic brain injury, their CEO asserted “This is not who we are”, immediately after demonstrating that this is indeed who they are.

There is news today that a “Legal Counsel” for PBS was recorded on tape advocating for firebombing the White House, and if Biden is elected, then under Biden, the government should take away the children of Trump supporters and send them to government re-education/re-programming.

PBS has fired this counsel and issued the usual bland statement – see middle tweet – suggesting this is not who they are, after empirically showing that this is who they are.

PBS issued a later statement saying “his actions ‘in no way reflect our values or opinions'”, just after their employee expressed precisely those values and opinions – the begging the question fallacy.

We have no idea if these viewpoints are widespread within PBS or not. Clearly, these behavioral traits are not appropriate for staff at a government funded educational programming organization.