From George Lakoff and Gil Duran at the FrameLab Newsletter:

Moderate and centrist are political weasel words. Their definitions vary widely because there is no such thing as a moderate or centrist ideology. There is no united “middle” or “center” in politics, no single set of ideas on which all moderates or centrists agree. Some support abortion rights, but others oppose them. Some support marriage equality, but others don’t.

For example, Nikki Haley was often described as moderate. Yet the Republican former presidential candidate wouldn’t get many votes in San Francisco. Neither would Elon Musk, who has called himself both a “centrist” and a “moderate” while simultaneously acting a superspreader of right-wing ideas and conspiracy theories.

More to the point: Both Haley and Musk are now backing Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Clearly, they have simply been trying to mask their extreme authoritarian politics as “moderate.”

Click here to read the full post: ‘Moderate’: The weasel word masking extreme politics by George Lakoff and Gil Duran at FrameLab.

And please subscribe (it’s FREE) to keep up with Dr. Lakoff’s latest work.