It'll "work" on the people who wouldn't question anything coming out of the administration anyway. Anyone else, including those on the blue team who aren't unquestioningly faithful, will not accept this nonsense.

I hope people can see through it, but I've also come to realize that good PR can be insidious. Having a really 'dumb' excuse like the one we see here can work because it actually makes people focus on how stupid the excuse is.

It takes oxygen away from the actual controversy and shifts the discussion to how stupid the cover is. You might even have people start arguing about gender and earnings gaps. Diversion successful.