Checking in on Pravda, and It Is Worse Than You Can Imagine

In my Sunday Smiles essay, I took a shot at CNN’s doing propaganda for the Iranian regime. 

But, seriously, CNN’s shilling for the IRGC is hardly the worst media malpractice we have seen this week. At least CNN informs its readers that it is allowed in the country by Iran, implying, correctly, that they can’t report anything that the regime won’t let them. 

That doesn’t excuse some of their stories, of course, but compared to outright misinformation from Pravda outlets, it looks mild by comparison. 

The NYPD has now confirmed that at least one of the devices thrown at protestors outside Gracie Manor yesterday by a man screaming “Allahu Akbar” was a functioning explosive device.

Everyone is very fortunate that it apparently malfunctioned. pic.twitter.com/85mvKb4NMD

— AG (@AGHamilton29) March 8, 2026

Yesterday, two Islamists tried to kill a bunch of pro-Iran demonstrators outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence, and the reporting from the media has been…execrable does not begin to cover how bad it is. 

The men ran into a crowd, threw IEDs filled with shrapnel, yelling Allah Akbar, and were subsequently arrested. 

Luckily, the bombs fizzled. 

We’ve seen it all now. What any honest person would call an IED, the New York Times calls “smoking jars of metal and fuses.” pic.twitter.com/7DZxcv5u7w

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) March 8, 2026

So how did almost every media outlet cover this? The reports almost all made it seem like “anti-Islamic” protesters had PLANTED bombs around Gracie Mansion in order to get Mamdani. That is exactly the impression they wanted their readers and viewers to have. Even when the truth comes out, the powerful initial impression sticks with many people. 

A Muslim threw a bomb full of shrapnel into the middle of a peaceful protest, and this Democrat decided the real problem is “anti-Muslim hate.”

You can’t make this stuff up. It’s too absurd. https://t.co/9KlN1vByl6

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) March 8, 2026

You can’t make this s**t up. Well, the media can, it seems. 

It’s part of a coordinated campaign from the left to completely rewrite what happened, with Democrats screaming about Islamophobia, not Islamists. 

Say what you will about Musk—and there is a lot—without his purchase of Twitter people like Boylan would have had a much easier time spreading their disinformation.

Now we can see the liars for who they are rather quickly. https://t.co/3nJGnSnNXZ

— Legal Phil (@Legal_Fil) March 8, 2026

Who are these people? Keir Starmer?

Islamists tried to kill protesters, and the media makes Mamdani the victim. https://t.co/hEVy2lY4m5

— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) March 8, 2026

It’s not like there was any ambiguity about what happened. It was caught on video and up on X within minutes. You can see the whole thing, but only if you are getting your news from X, not Pravda. 

Unbelievable framing.

Who threw the devices? Who was arrested? https://t.co/rcIo2k9k0a

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) March 8, 2026

So…Islamists try to kill pro-Iranian activists, and the story morphs into something completely different. And every single one of these news organizations knew the facts almost in real time, because the video was out there. 

Two Muslims are in custody after attempting to bomb people protesting against Mamdani and Islamism.
Weird how that’s so hard for you guys to report. https://t.co/W3YXF38mRW

— Leftism (@LeftismForU) March 8, 2026

THIS MORNING, the Today show is whitewashing the event. No mention of the bombs, just a protest turned violent. 

Then there are the makeovers the media gave to Ayatollah Khamenei, using words like “avuncular” to describe a murderous theocrat who had women raped and killed for not wearing hijabs. 

“It’s really horrific to see our mainstream media trying to whitewash a criminal regime who for 47 years has oppressed and repressed and committed the most heinous humans rights abuses against the Iranian people, all of it documented by human rights organizations.”

The Fake… pic.twitter.com/WChByqsyTU

— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) March 8, 2026

“It’s really horrific to see our mainstream media trying to whitewash a criminal regime who for 47 years has oppressed and repressed and committed the most heinous humans rights abuses against the Iranian people, all of it documented by human rights organizations.”  

The Fake News media is once again spinning to protect genocidal maniacs. 

When will Americans learn that the media hates them?

The Economist called Khamenei “God’s Dictator,” and unironically called the US “The Great Satan.” Seriously. 

Notice the lack of quotes around “the Great Satan,” in case you were wondering whose side The Economist is on here. https://t.co/ko2LN8U6pl

— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) March 7, 2026

“God’s Dictator.” You can’t make it up. Or, rather, The Economist can. 

He really commits to the bit. White supremacy is his ride or die. Even when very-not-white “allahu akbar” chanting terrorists are bomb-throwing in broad Manhattan daylight he goes for the spoiled undergraduate’s tediously tendentious tripe. What a long four years we are in for… https://t.co/CN0fCfOilr

— Maud Maron (@MaudMaron) March 8, 2026

The list of Pravda bulls**t is endless, and it gets more outrageous the deeper you dig into what is being fed to the American people and the world. 

🔴 BBC Persian, which broadcasts to audiences inside Iran, mistranslated remarks by the US secretary of defence, telling viewers Washington was bringing death to the Iranian “people”

Find out more ⬇️https://t.co/W0ZfhgsBbX pic.twitter.com/YdZ6ulQmci

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 6, 2026

The Daily Mail recycled a photo from the Iranian protests and ran it as if the body bags pictured were the result of Operation Epic Fury. They literally laundered the Iranian regime’s brutality against its own people in order to slander the president who is liberating them.

One of my favorites is the Washington Post, presenting a radical pro-Hamas organizer as an ordinary Persian worried about her relatives in Iran. I mean, a pro-Hamas/Iranian regime trans advocate who trains Queers to commit acts of violence. 

What? Was she on the Rolodex? How do you find such people?

WaPo Presents ‘Socialist and Trans Liberation Organizer’ Who Founded ‘Armed Queers’ Group as Concerned Student Protesting Trump’s Strikes on Iranian Regime via @CAndersonMO @FreeBeacon – https://t.co/cQpkynklpO

— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) March 3, 2026

Pravda is working overtime to gaslight Americans, and if it weren’t for X, it would be impossible to distinguish fact from fiction. And, for those who aren’t on X, it really IS impossible. 

I sh!t you not.

We’re at a press conference in front of a synagogue hit by terrorist gunfire.
The third one in five days. Bullet holes.

And the Toronto Star asks the police chief: are you worried about Islamophobia?

pic.twitter.com/hNlmDxUu2o

— Ezra Levant 🍁🚛 (@ezralevant) March 8, 2026

UPDATE:

NBC News is still at it, suggesting the IEDs came from right-wingers!

BREAKING: A device ignited outside Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral residence yesterday during an anti-Islam protest and counterprotest was confirmed to be an improvised explosive, New York City police say. https://t.co/OD8ceGlkE5

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 8, 2026

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