Once again the ‘’we all know it is true’’ defense is applied when revealed to be a lie.

When it comes to parody and satire the better examples of this technique carry two levels of amusement. First is the initial delivery that evokes recognized comedy, but a bonus level of mirth is achieved when a significant number of people fall for the prank. The Babylon Bee is consistently funny, but things are elevated when we see media members or politicians falling for their ruse.

Michael Moore has just done so with a comedy video that has been released by comedian Blaire Erskine. In it she plays a supposed passionate Trump supporter who is being interviewed, describing some of the events she encountered while attending a Trump rally. She is supposedly stranded on site following the rally, but remains stalwart in her devotion to the President.

Woman stranded at MAGA rally in Omaha says Trump wanted to teach them a lesson pic.twitter.com/SvqYw5MnOZ

— blaire erskine (@blaireerskine) October 28, 2020

It is rather well done, with her appearing both earnest and slightly confused. The comedy should have been apparent to most, with her stipulating that she could not drive herself to the rally because she was told, ‘’Our cars are poor’’, by organizers. She next talks about her being stranded, stating this was actually a lesson delivered by the campaign, but when pressed as to what that lesson might be she declares evasively that it really is not a lesson for her to know.

Despite the evident mirth Michael Moore latched onto the video as proof of what Democrats face in the election. He held up the gag reel as an accurate portrayal and displayed it as an instructional aid as to why the MAGA crowd wins elections. He has since deleted the tweet.

Ha – @MMflint deleted this lecture, where he was caught believing a satirical video was a real Trump supporter. pic.twitter.com/oMlZfIT96t

— Brad Slager Mail-splaining and Voter Resignation (@MartiniShark) October 29, 2020

That the esteemed leftist firebrand Moore was duped like this is comedy gold, but then there are a number of those who see this video and — once they have it explained this is a fake video — declare that it still is representative of the true Trump supporter. So yes, once again we get served the ‘’False, but accurate/ inaccurate but truthful’’ canard when a lie has been proven out about a charge leveled at those on the right.

This is brilliant! Blaire's videos are hilarious because they are so consistent with reality. And many won't realize she is joking because some/many of Trump's supporters are indeed this crazy.

"I've seen some elderly people passed out & unresponsive but…." #MAGA

— MURRAY🧢🇺🇸 (@murray_nyc) October 29, 2020

Not that it should be explained, but it appears it needs to be explained. If this is an accurate representation of how the Trump crowds are in actuality then you would not need a false representation to prove it correct. Additionally, if you claim that what she does is a spot-on portrayal then you cannot call it ‘’brilliant’’. If she is just mirroring reality then it is not satirical nor humorous – it is mere imitation.

Speaking of unfunny imitations, Sarah Cooper weighed in on the matter. She is the alleged comedian who has become notable for lip-syncing to Donald Trump speeches, and was granted a severely unfunny Netflix special as a result. Cooper saw this interplay on Twitter with Moore and she weighed in with her impressions on the matter.

Wait… I know how this ends. Michael Moore shares satirical video, a trump supporter uses that video in a commercial as a testament to Donald Trump, Donald Trump then retweets it, the NYTimes interviews Blair, who stays in character, and that's how Trump wins Michigan

— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) October 29, 2020

Yes, she was attempting humor here, but note the tone and excusal at play. She needs to assume what the supporters and ultimately Donald Trump will do in order to mock them, all while excusing away Moore’s role as simply how he ‘’shares’’ the video. Ridiculing one side over what you perceive might happen loses all of its venom when you completely bypass the fact that Moore actually fell for the fake video in the first place.

This is the way political scores are tabulated these days; a fake representation is held up as definitive proof to make a political hit, and the projected foibles of one side being held up to greater ridicule than the actual fumbling taking place on the other side. The obliviousness is where the real comedy is to be found.