Tag: Trump inability to tell the truth

Fact-checking in a post-Trump era

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What if President Trump just tried to tell the truth?

It’s a question I have long pondered as editor and chief writer of the Fact Checker, where we have assiduously tracked every speech, tweet and news conference during Trump’s presidency and counted more than 22,000 false or misleading statements.

In fact, when Trump unexpectedly won the presidency four years ago, I expressed cautious optimism that his truth-telling would improve: “Now that Trump will assume the presidency, he may find that it is not in his interest to keep making factually unsupported statements.” Continue reading.

Ex-Justice Dept. official says Michael Flynn secretly ‘neutered’ Obama’s moves on Russia

Washington Post logoFormer deputy attorney general Sally Q. Yates told Congress on Wednesday that President Trump’s incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn in late 2016 had secretly “neutered” Obama administration actions toward Russia, prompting an investigation that consumed the early days of Trump’s presidency.

Yates has been a target of Trump and many Republicans for her brief oversight of the investigation of Russia’s election interference and possible collusion with the Trump campaign four years ago. She testified via video before the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose chairman, Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), has been highly critical of the FBI’s handling of that case.

Trump attacked Yates before the hearing began, tweeting that she “has zero credibility” and declaring her “part of the greatest political crime of the Century, and ObamaBiden knew EVERYTHING!” Continue reading.

Trump’s Four-Pinocchio interview on Russian bounties

Washington Post logoTrump rarely gets fact-checked on camera, but here we have a good example of an interviewer pressing and prodding on a sensitive topic.

The president has been dismissive of U.S. intelligence reports that Russia offered bounties to the Taliban to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (A “hoax” or “fake news,” Trump says.)

Follow-up questions in a one-on-one setting can expose the strength or weakness of a claim. When asked about reports that he was briefed on the intelligence, and why he didn’t raise the bounties in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump started dissembling in response. Continue reading.

Leaders like Trump fail if they cannot speak the truth and earn trust

During a recent Senate committee hearing on the COVID-19 crisis, Dr. Anthony Fauci told lawmakers he was concerned about “a lack of trust of authority, a lack of trust in government.”

He had reason to be worried. The Pew Center reported that July 7 only 17% of people in the U.S. have confidence in government to do the right thing. Never in the history of their surveys, which began in 1958, has that confidence been so low.

Why is trust so low and why does that matter, especially during a crisis – and especially during this crisis? Continue reading.

Trump claims controversial comment about injecting disinfectants was ‘sarcastic’

NOTE:  This is a free article provided by The Washington Post.

Washington Post logoAmid a flurry of backlash and ridicule, President Trump walked back his suggestion that scientists test whether disinfectants, such as bleach, could be injected inside the human body to fight the coronavirus, claiming Friday that he had said it sarcastically.

The president offered his idea for a cure in the White House briefing room Thursday after a presentation that mentioned disinfectants can kill the novel coronavirus on surfaces and in the air.
“I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute,” Trump said during Thursday’s coronavirus press briefing. “And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets inside the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it would be interesting to check that.” Continue reading.

Giuliani flat-out admits Trump will commit perjury if put under oath

The following article by Tommy Christopher was posted on the ShareBlue.com website August 9, 2018:

Rudy Giuliani accused Robert Mueller of setting a ‘perjury trap’ for Trump because he knows Trump will lie under oath.

Credit: Fox News

Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has actually admitted that Trump will commit perjury if special counsel Robert Mueller gets him under oath.

On Wednesday night’s edition of “Hannity,” host Sean Hannity asked Giuliani about the Trump legal team’s response to Mueller’s request to interview Trump.

Giuliani’s response proved that he just might be the worst legal spokesman in history.

View the complete article here.