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The Daily

Portland Propaganda Busted as Noem Stares Down Flag-Draped Chicken

Empty propaganda: Noem posed for conservative influencers, including a convicted 1/6 insurrectionist, as she stared down a man dressed as a chicken in what Trump called "war torn" Portland.

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Sarah Jones
Oct 08, 2025
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Based on the footage of the conservative influencers your tax dollars appear to be paying to follow Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem around to create and distribute propaganda, you might be forgiven for thinking that Portland is a “war torn” hellscape.

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But according to judges, local law enforcement and local officials, it is absolutely not.

Find the threat:

Here’s the fictionalized dangerous situation Noem and her troops faced, as she stood on a rooftop in open air, with only a t-shirt and jeans on as no official would in a truly dangerous area, surrounded by influencers with flattering lights to capture the pretend mission Russia-style:

White woman with long hair extensions and a lot of makeup battles evil, dangerous liberals who have the temerity to ::checks notes:: exercise their First Amendment rights.

Her entourage is right. This is so pathetic it would be laughable if they weren’t causing so much harm. This is giving how much they all wanted to be accepted by Hollywood. Wanted to be the cool kids. The anger and resentment of the repressed conservative always on the outside of art, liberalism, intellectualism, joy, et.

Atop the rooftop, posing for the cameras, Noem stared down a man dressed as a chicken, with an upside down US flag draped across his chest… and about a dozen other randos and media.

The “threat”:

It did not make for good optics.

It does not justify Trump’s claims that Portland is “war torn” or that “America is under invasion from within,” or justify his claim that “dangerous” American cities run by Democrats must be used as “training grounds” for the armed forces. It does not justify Trump’s sick and depraved authorization of “full force” against US citizens for exercising their First Amendment rights.

A month ago, Trump directed Sec of Defense Pete Hegseth to provide “all necessary troops” to Portland because the city is a “war zone.” It has been pointed out to Trump that the footage upon which he made this call was half a decade old. Apparently once he was set straight about this, his super sharp mind merely discarded this inconvenient fact and on he went with his lost-after-the-sun-goes-down-hallucinations.

The president’s claims about Portland were “simply untethered to the facts,” a US district judge found.

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