I'm in my 40's and even when I went to school, the left biased education system taught us that the civil war was fought over racism. That was an absolute lie to weaken southern states and intimidate them from ever trying secession again. The south was rich and self sustaining. The north was not. They wanted to take by force what they didn't have. That's what the war was about.
I worked in a prison. I've seen this tactic used many times to discredit inmate "gang leaders." You pull him out of the dorm for an hour, send him back, give him new bedding, extra food on his plate, etc. Let the belief build that he's a snitch, maybe even let a trustee overhear a conversation about the "snitch.". It either dissolves the gang he leads or they turn on him and beat or kill him.
And Trump was wearing a dazzling gold tie when he met with McCarthy. Anyone else notice that?