The Washington Post reports: We have been tracking President Trump’s false or misleading claims for more than seven months. Somewhere around Aug. 4 or Aug. 5, he broke 1,000 claims, and the tally now stands at 1,057. (Our full interactive graphic can be found here.)
That’s an impressive number by any standard. In fact, we are a little late with this update because we have simply been overwhelmed keeping track of the deluge of claims made by the president in the later part of July. Things slowed down during the president’s “working vacation,” so we have finally been able to catch up.
At the president’s current pace, he averages nearly five claims a day. Many are repeats of claims that have been previously debunked. We also include statements that are unacknowledged flip-flops from previously held positions, such as touting new highs in a stock market that he previously derided as being a “big, fat bubble.” [Continue reading…]
This is fascinating and horrifying, but the discrete counting mode has a forest-for-the-trees feel to it, somewhat like announcing to your guests that you’ve prepared 11,313 grains of rice for dinner. Trump is a confabulator at all times and he says whatever he deems will advance his immediate purpose. Any relation to reality is (like they say in the credits at the end of the movie) coincidental.
It follows, I think, that comment should be focused on his purposes and how they drive his outbursts — rather than on the particulars of this or that lunatic falsehood.
I agree. And would add (somewhat facetiously) that each time he repeats the same lie he shows the virtue of consistency (be that a hobgoblin). Indeed, it remains a matter of debate whether Trump’s consistent lying is evidence of his resolute deceitfulness or his unwillingness to question his own ingrained beliefs.