Donald Trump lies a lot, and his acolytes construct permission structures to excuse those lies. On the other hand, Joe Biden put forward a cringe-worthy performance, and his VP engaged in some BET Awards cringiness of her own. Voters are more likely to punish cringe. Plus, Phil Elwood put together PR and public policy campaigns for dictators and rogue states. It paid ok, but also, it almost destroyed him, as he chronicles in his new book, All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians. Produced by Joel Patterson and Corey Wara Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com To advertise on the show: https://advertisecast.com/TheGist Subscribe to our ad-free and/or PescaPlus versions of The Gist: https://subscribe.mikepesca.com/ Follow Mike’s Substack: Pesca Profundities | Mike Pesca | Substack Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices