“Rick Perry’s Strange Sex Story” was the New York Times headline. The columnist, Gail Collins, said Perry further proved he was “an absolutely terrible secretary of energy” by arguing “that fossil fuels would protect women from sexual assault.”

Perry, a conservative Republican from Texas, was an official in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet during his first term. This meant that every news outlet was obligated to run the exact same mocking story. And they all did. It accomplished the desired result: misleading the readers and making him look like a fool.