Monday, August 28, 2017

1,000 Lies in 200 Days: A Detailed Look at Trump's Catalog of Falsehoods

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/08/22/1000-lies-200-days-detailed-look-trumps-catalog-falsehoods
"A new video produced by the Washington Post asserts that President Donald Trump has mislead or blatantly lied to the public more than 1,000 times since taking office in January. The newspaper counted a total of 1,057 lies, with the president averaging nearly five falsehoods per day since his inauguration. The video catalogues just a few of President Donald Trump's most frequent lies about his influence on the economy, the negative impact of the Obama administration, and his ongoing battle with the news media. Trump's lies frequently involve the promotion of his status as a "deal-maker." As the Post notes, he has repeatedly taken credit for cutting the cost of the F-35 fighter jet, an increase in defense spending by NATO member countries, and Ford's decision to build a plant in Michigan instead of Mexico—though the president had nothing to do with any of these developments. The video also shows that Trump's supporters are so familiar with his frequent characterization of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a "disaster" that many are able to finish his sentences about the law. (The ACA has actually been deemed stable by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and following the passage of the law the uninsured rate dropped to a historic low of nine percent.) Readers, journalists, and politicians took to Twitter to react to the Post's new tally of Trump's habitual lying, the frequency of which has been called "pathological" by Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)"