True Lies (1/3)
Surya,
President Trump is imprecise and inaccurate. That is something on which we can both agree. The opposition calls it lies, but non-haters understand the truth underlying the statements and give the president a pass.
As a former journalist with a journalism degree, and as a CDO personality, I admit that his inaccuracy bothers me. I don’t like it when my president is so easily embarrassed by the gotcha! press, and I wish he would call me up to fact-check him before speaking. (Seriously, sir, I’ll do it for free!)
Let’s talk about two recent cases, and then I’ll get to my questions for you. These will help explain what I am talking about and get to the heart of the matter.
Case #1: Trump claims biggest Electoral College win since Reagan
The press and the Trump-haters (not mutually exclusive) heard him lie again in another ego-driven boast about his illegitimate election victory.
Trump supporters heard him emphasize again that he is the legitimate president (because haters incessantly remind us of the popular vote and so-called election hacking) and that his win was by a wide margin despite claims by the intelligentsia that he couldn’t possibly win. We also heard that he has reinvigorated the country like no Republican since Ronald Reagan. We love Reagan!
Objectively, what he said was wrong. But I’d like to point out that:
a) there is a version of the statement that is true (see below)
b) Trump often talks in this imprecise way when off the cuff, dropping key phrases that would improve his accuracy and failing to correct himself properly on the spot (he’s no Obama)
c) he is somewhat aware of this and hedges by using phrases such as “I guess,” etc.
I know I sound like a total apologist right now who wants my guy to have pure motives. We’ll get to that. But first, check out the actual transcript of this misstatement and then what I would have told him to say if I were able to whisper in his ear at that moment. Hopefully, you will see that he could have supported/defended his claim, which I think helps my belief/delusion that he is not fabricating propaganda or whatever else the haters think.
ACTUAL TRANSCRIPT
Trump: “I guess it was the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan .”
Later …
Reporter: “You said today that you had the biggest electoral margin with 304 or 306 electoral votes. In fact, President Obama got 365.”
Trump: “Not a Republican.”
Reporter: “George H.W. Bush, 426 when he won as president.”
Trump: “I was given that information. I don’t know. I was just given it. We had a very, very big margin.”
Reporter: “Why should Americans trust you when you accuse the information they receive of being fake, when you provide information that’s not accurate?
Trump: “I was given that information. Actually, I’ve seen that information around. But it was a very substantial victory. Do you agree with that?”
Reporter: “You’re the president.”
WHAT I WISH HE HAD SAID
Trump: “I guess it was the biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan.”
Later …
Snotty Reporter: “You said today that you had the biggest electoral margin with 304 or 306 electoral votes. In fact, President Obama got 365.”
Alternate Trump: That’s not what I said. I said biggest electoral college “win.” I should have added “by a Republican.” That’s why I talk about Reagan. Of course, we lost a lot of elections in the past few decades and the Bush wins were very close. Kind of my point.
Snotty Reporter: “George H.W. Bush, a Republican, had 426 electoral college votes when he won as president.”
Alternate Trump: Right. Again, I’m not talking about margins or even electoral votes. It’s true HW Bush had more votes running after Reagan, one of our greatest presidents, as his “third term.” But if you look at an electoral map, we won more counties than even he did. That’s because more people than in decades support our party’s vision for America and reject the mess the Democrats and Hillary Clinton made of this great country. Next question.
Two footnotes:
- The claim in my alternate-reality version has been fact-checked and is true.
- I don’t personally think the Democrats and Hillary Clinton made the country a mess. I just wrote that in ‘Trump style.’
Case #2: Trump invents a terror attack in Sweden
In my opinion, this one is worse than fake news (whatever that means). It’s what Scott Adams calls “imaginary news.” Haters took something imprecise that Trump said and pretended he was claiming a terrorist attack had happened in Sweden that didn’t actually happen.
WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID
Here’s the bottom line, we’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening. We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany. You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden! Who would believe this? Sweden! They took in large numbers, they’re having problems like they never thought possible.
You look at what’s happening in Brussels. You look at what’s happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at Paris. We’ve allowed thousands and thousands of people into our country and there was no way to vet those people. There was no documentation. There was no nothing. So we’re going to keep our country safe.
Later he tweeted:
My statement as to what’s happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.
What supporters understood was that he meant to say, “What I saw last night on TV about Sweden,” and that he wasn’t talking about a terrorist attack because — besides not saying those words — he went on to explain exactly what he was talking about: They took in large numbers of refugees and immigrants and are having problems they didn’t foresee (e.g. increases in violence and rape).
WHAT THE HATERS SAID HE SAID
- Trump “appears to make up terror-related incident in Sweden” (NBC)
- Trump “cites non-existent terror attack” (Guardian)
- “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking?” (Former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on Twitter)
- “What happened in Sweden Friday night? Did they catch the Bowling Green Massacre perpetrators?” (Chelsea Clinton on Twitter)
That last reference is apropos since it was another imaginary news story of the same variety. KellyAnne Conway misspoke and the opposition claimed she made up a terror attack.
MY QUESTIONS
OK, so I think you see my point. I’m fairly certain you don’t agree with it, which is fine with me. While I’m open to hearing why, I’d also like to ask you two questions:*
- What do you think President Trump’s motives are when making these statements?
- Do you think the opposition’s approach of mocking, shaming, precisely fact-checking, etc. these statements will be effective in changing anyone’s mind about Trump? If so, whose? If not, why not?
Jordan
*Adams has asked both of these questions, which is why I am thinking about them.
