Which rhetorical device is this?
Solution 1:
While it could be colloquially considered wordplay or a pun, this is an example of antanaclasis (Silva Rhetoricae), or repeating a word or phrase in a different sense:
- defy in the idiom defy belief, meaning that it is difficult to believe the subject (politicians) acts that way (Merriam-Webster)
- defies in defies politicians, meaning that the newspaper confronts, resists, or withstands politicians (Merriam-Webster)