Any talk on the left about being compassionate is either a lie because it comes from someone with actual power, or it's from someone that does mean it but doesn't have any power.

It's just used to divide people that are more empathetic from people that are more pragmatic. It creates a them and us situation.

Basically they like to talk out of both sides of their mouth because it feeds into people's confirmation bias where they accept, agree and remember the thing their political representative said that they liked, and they ignore and forget anything counter to that. They're like children.

If they're talking like that to an opponent then it's simply to disarm and weaken them. Don't be stupid and believe a single thing these people say to you.