Remember when Kellyanne Conway infamously coined the phrase “alternative facts” all those many months ago? Since then we’ve heard Trump and his allies make all kinds of other excuses when caught in a lie. In the last week though, the lies seemed to reach new heights. One of the more puzzling responses came from Trump’s new attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Rudy Giuliani this morning on ABC: "I don’t know how you separate fact and opinion."
— David P Gelles (@gelles) May 7, 2018
This claim came after Giuliani told Sean Hannity that Trump repaid Stormy Daniels’ hush money to Michael Cohen. Trump seemed to back this up on Twitter before backtracking to say that Giuliani still had to “get his facts straight.” But many say it’s actually Trump who needs to get his facts straight.
The Washington Post reports:
“In the 466 days since he took the oath of office, President Trump has made 3,001 false or misleading claims, according to The Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president.
That’s an average of nearly 6.5 claims a day.”
In yesterday's interview, Giuliani was asked if Trump knew about the payments after the campaign. His response:
"Those are the facts that we’re still working on."
You DON'T "work on" facts. You work on stories, lies and fibs, but not on facts.
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) May 7, 2018
It’s clear now that Trump allies have a narrative they are trying to push that the lies don’t matter.
On #CNNSOTU @RoyBlunt tells @jaketapper that @realDonaldTrump's agenda is "more important" than his lieshttps://t.co/IVTWYnvyQS
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) May 6, 2018
Watched a senior US Senator be asked repeatedly by @jaketapper, if it bothers him the President of the United States lies. Sen. Blunt couldn’t bring himself to say, “Yes.” Embarrassing servility. How the hell do u tell a child not to lie, if u can’t tell the President not to lie?
— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) May 6, 2018
This is so, so wrong. A people that allows a government to so easily lie to them, deserves a government that will deceive, harass, abuse and steal from them. https://t.co/MYhKaeKZFS
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) May 7, 2018
We know that lies say a lot about someone’s character, and even in the case of the President of the United States, they can also have legal consequences.
According to the New York Times, Trump knew of the Stormy Daniels payment before he denied knowing in a 4/30/17, interview on Air Force One. That lie suggests he *knowingly* omitted the debt to Cohen from his June 14, 2017, financial disclosure report. https://t.co/i0XQigz7aG
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) May 7, 2018
It may not be illegal for Trump to lie about the Stormy Daniels payment, but it would be illegal for him to knowingly omit it from his financial disclosures as president. We filed a supplemental criminal complaint with the government.https://t.co/o08L7iXf2E
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) May 7, 2018
After the most recent batch of lies, CNN’s Brian Stelter is one of the journalists saying “enough is enough.”
Reporters are increasingly feeling empowered to call out the Trump White House's lies… because the evidence is right on tape… https://t.co/tRun8Mhw7M
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 7, 2018
One example of reporters challenging Trump surrogates on the “alternative facts” came Sunday as Jake Tapper tried to challenge Kellyanne Conway. She tried to dance around it, but Tapper made it clear it’s time for the lies to stop.
KELLYANNE CONWAY: “…you just want that to go viral. You wanna say the word ‘President Trump’ and ‘lie’ in the same sentence.”
JAKE TAPPER: “No, I would like him to stop lying, quite frankly.” https://t.co/F7Ckc2KSFi
— Sarah Lerner (@SarahLerner) May 6, 2018
I’m glad more journalists are finally calling Trump’s lies what they are. But don’t pretend this is anything new. From birtherism to “millions” of illegal voters, Trump has long been a serial liar in a way that’s a stark shift from the misleading statements typical of politicians
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 6, 2018
Surprised by any of this? An op-ed on Marketwatch.com claims no one should be. In the piece, Chris Edelson an assistant professor of government in American University’s School of Public Affairs says:
“Donald Trump’s campaign was, at its core, based on lies.
Thanks to Trump’s deception, voters did not have basic information needed to make a fully informed decision — and we still don’t have all the information we need. Trump’s failure to disclose basic financial information makes it difficult to know precisely what conflicts of interest he may have, especially as his business continues to operate while he is in office.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders is often the one who has to deliver misinformation from the Trump White House, but in an interview on CNN Joe Lockhart, a former press secretary for Bill Clinton said it’s time for Sanders to give the President an ultimatum:
“I think at this point, I’d go into the Oval Office and tell the President that if he lies to me again, I have to quit.”
Dear Conservatives:
You don’t accept lies from your children. You don’t accept lies from your friends, your colleagues, or your employer.You didn’t accept lies from Obama, Bush, Clinton or Reagan.
So why do you blindly accept lies from President Trump?
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 7, 2018