According to the report Zeldin’s Spin Machine: Political Gaslighting in the EPA’s Public Communications, public communications issued by the current EPA’s press office are becoming more politicized. The report examines political gaslighting in the early messaging of both Administrator Lee Zeldin’s public communications as well as those directly from his EPA’s press office.
A key finding shows that the EPA press office’s messaging stokes political division particularly by deriding previous administrations. In fact, during the initial five months of the current administration, the EPA press office issued more releases referring to a previous president than under any of the three previous administrations. The report also shows communications replete with contradictions as well as misleading and false statements.
This preliminary investigation examines early Zeldin-era EPA press releases, Zeldin’s Senate testimony, Op-Eds, and other public facing materials for key indicators of “political gaslighting” as defined by Robin Stern and Marc Brackett. A future report will further examine these themes over time and using additional data (such as social media).
Zeldin’s Spin Machine: Political Gaslighting in the EPA’s Public CommunicationsAuthor(s): Elizabeth Blum, Kimberly L. Barrett, and EDGI
Publication Date: December 18, 2025
Preferred Citation: “Zeldin’s Spin Machine: Political Gaslighting in the EPA’s Public Communications”, (Environmental Data & Governance Initiative, December 18, 2025)
CONTACT: Report authors are available for interview. To set up media interviews or for other inquiries, please contact Shannan Lenke Stoll at shannanlenke.stoll@envirodatagov.org.