On lying in politics
May 15, 2021
To study and practice journalism as I did is to believe in the power and importance of truth. One of the main reasons I transitioned from reporting to working for Democratic politicians is that for the past several years Republican officeholders have been waging a war on truth itself, consistently lying about truths fundamental to our democracy. This past week has been particularly bad.
“I don’t think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election,” House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said at the White House this week, even though Donald Trump and most Republicans have been doing just that for the last six months. McCarthy might as well have given a middle finger to the American public for the sheer disrespect for people’s intelligence that level of lie shows.
This week the House Republicans fired Liz Cheney from leadership for the crime of telling people that the presidential election was not stolen. They replaced her with Elise Stefanik, a woman more than happy to tell lies if it advances her personal power. Cheney is no paragon of truth — her father’s constant lies about the Iraq War led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people, yet the younger Cheney still beats the drums of war at any opportunity. But the fact remains — it is now a fireable offense in Republican politics to tell the truth.
Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-GA) said this week the revolt of January 6 here in DC resembled a “normal tourist visit.” As someone who worked as a tourist guide at the US Capitol, I can assure you he is lying. He said it was a “bald-faced lie” to call it an insurrection — despite the mob terrorizing Congress with weapons to stop the work of the government, carrying confederate flags and threatening to hang the Vice President, going so far as to erect a noose on the Capitol grounds.
We as a country learned the term “gaslighting” during the Trump presidency as Trump and his supporters aggressively lied about everything to muddy the waters of what reality itself was. This trend continues among Republicans at every level of government and is getting worse.
There’s an old saying in journalism. If someone says it’s raining and someone else says it’s not, your job is to look out the window and see which is the truth. Both Democrats and Republicans lie about statistics, scandals, and policy decisions. But Republicans lie with more ease about more things and have now made lying a prerequisite for being a member in good standing.
Call me a moralist, but I believe lying about our democracy itself is a threat to our country. And I will continue to fight it wherever I can.
