Monday, June 1, 2020

The President's Awesome Track Record of Lies and Deceit

Disinformation: false information that is intended to mislead or deceive, especially propaganda issued by a government organization to a rival power or the media


The Washington Post fact checkers report that as of May 29, the president had made 19,127 false or misleading statements in public. WaPo writes: "As of May 29, his 1,226th day in office, Trump had made 19,127 false or misleading claims, according to the Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement he has uttered. That’s almost 16 claims a day over the course of his presidency. So far this year, he’s averaging just over 22 claims a day, similar to the pace he set in 2019."

At that rate, the president will be close to 25,000 false and misleading statements by the end of his first term.

In his love of the lie, the president has actually created a new category of lie that crosses into the realm of actual disinformation. The WaPo fact checkers call it the Bottomless Pinocchio. This 2½ minute video explains this ground-breaking rhetorical tactic (at least in modern times in America) and how it shows the president's utter contempt for inconvenient truth and people's intelligence.[1]





Footnote:
1. On the same day, the WaPo published an opinion piece about an attack lie that the president launched against the mayor of D.C. regarding handling of unrest in D.C. The president falsely claimed in another of his toxic Tweets that D.C. mayor Muriel E. Bowser refused to provide help to the Secret Service. WaPo writes of the Tweets:
"Praising the U.S. Secret Service for their handling of protests at the White House, Trump tweeted that Bowser “wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved,” quoted an unnamed person as saying it’s “Not their job,” and ended the tweet with a sarcastic “Nice!”  
Whether Trump’s unnamed person exists is unknown. What is clear, however, is that Trump’s accusation against Bowser and the police force was indisputably false. In fact, Trump’s lie was exposed the moment it left his mouth. 
Led by D.C. police Chief Peter Newsham, and with Bowser’s knowledge and consent, the city’s police had already joined with the Secret Service and other federal law enforcement authorities to deal with White House and public demonstrations — as have D.C. mayors and police chiefs in the past.  
In a news conference with Bowser, Newsham said he provided Secret Service officers with equipment they did not have, including riot helmets. “Wouldn’t let the D.C. Police get involved” Trump declared. The Secret Service issued a statement that said, “The Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police were on the scene.” 
Why would Trump tell such a baldfaced lie?"
Presumably, the president would tell such a baldfaced lie because he believes the public is stupid. The president is so lazy and contemptuous of the public's intelligence that he does not even bother to Tweet lies that are harder to disprove or shrouded in secrecy. If that isn't evidence of the president's total contempt for the people's intelligence, then what is? How stupid does he believe we really are? Apparently, very very stupid.

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