Can Index Futures be manipulated to prop up the broader stock market?

I've been thinking about this for a few days. I'm looking for insight from redditors who might know. Google Ai's answer was the following: Yes, it is theoretically and mechanically possible to use index futures to prop up the broader US stock market and this idea has long been discussed in the context of potential government or institutional market intervention. Because index futures are highly leveraged and closely linked to the underlying stock index, they are a generally more efficient tool t