Donald Trump has uttered more than 3,000 lies since he took the oath of office, according to the Washington Post fact checker. The same source asserts that Donald Trump “makes up to nine false statements a day.”
Most of us like to think that if we were in a relationship with someone who we continually caught in lies, we’d kick them to the curb. And if that person were constantly trying to gaslight us, we might call it an abusive relationship. But Donald Trump, our leader, defies normal, healthy expectations for a relationship with his constituents – and they not only let him get away with it, they make excuses for him.
Here is a sampling of Donald Trump’s more famous lies, according to Politifact:
“We have signed more legislation than anybody. We broke the record of Harry Truman.” (The truth: The Trump administration comes in last, as far as the amount of legislation signed in the first year of office for any president since World War II.)
“We essentially repealed Obamacare because we got rid of the individual mandate … and that was a primary source of funding of Obamacare.” (The truth: the penalties for not enrolling would cover less than 3 percent of the costs of administering Obamacare. The individual mandate was only one part of Obamacare; eliminating it did not eliminate Obamacare.)
“Again, we’re the highest-taxed nation, just about, in the world.” (The truth: we’re not.)
Though a large percentage of Donald Trump’s supporters are evangelical Christians and religious leaders, the fact that so many of Trump’s untruths have been proven to be outright lies and not just misstatements doesn’t appear to trouble them at all. The truth is not their concern – as long as the items on their agenda are passed.
These days, the “family values” people – the people who largely support Trump – are the people who support rolling back the Affordable Care Act, who oppose support for law-abiding DACA recipients, and who oppose abortion while also opposing care and support for children born into poverty. Integrity and accountability are no longer seen as cornerstones for a free nation, and lying is simply a path to “Making America Great Again.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper asked GOP Senator Roy Blunt (Missouri), whether it bothered him when Trump said things that were blatantly not true.
“He communicates differently than I do,”was Blunt’s response. “I think people are much more concerned about the economy and job preparation.”
But what’s a lie (or 3,000) when things are “getting done”? In the long term, a lie, when it’s part of a series of many lies told by the leader of a country, has the potential to cause damage for not just the United States and its people, but for our allies. With all of Trump’s convolutions of the truth, how long until mistrust from the rest of the world fosters enmity, or worse? How long will it be until our allies view Donald Trump, and all of us, by association, as the collective Boy Who Cried Wolf?
Tapper to GOP senator: Do Trump’s lies bother you? | CNN [2018-05-06]
‘That’s your stink, Mr. President’: Fox News’s Neil Cavuto lets loose | Washington Post [2018-05-04]
