How do you reckon they'd tell it apart without also experiencing (or having experienced) it?

If you do have an answer to this, why are you accusing him of it regardless?

There’s no accusation, just like there’s nothing particularly political or polarized in that piece. One can imagine an accusation, precisely as one can imagine the particularly political where it doesn’t actually exist.

As for how to discern the difference, well that’s the purpose of critical thinking and metacognition.