How is that even possible?
On Thursday, the Washington Post published a remarkable story on its front page revealing a recent spike in the number of “false and misleading claims” made by President Trump. In his first year as President, Trump made 2,140 false claims, according to the Post. In just the last six months, he has nearly doubled that total to 4,229. In June and July, he averaged sixteen false claims a day. On July 5th, the Post found what appears to be Trump’s most untruthful day yet: seventy-six per cent of the ninety-eight factual assertions he made in a campaign-style rally in Great Falls, Montana, were “false, misleading or unsupported by evidence.” Trump’s rallies have become the signature events of his Presidency, and it is there that the President most often plays fast and loose with the facts, in service to his political priorities and to telling his fervent supporters what they want and expect to hear from him. At another rally this week, in Tampa, Trump made thirty-five false and misleading claims, on subjects ranging from trade with China to the size of his tax cut.
These astonishing statistics were compiled by a small team overseen by Glenn Kessler, the editor and chief writer of the Post’s Fact Checker column, who for much of the last decade has been truth-squadding politicians and doling out Pinocchios for their exaggerations, misrepresentations, distortions, and otherwise false claims. At this point, Kessler practically has a Ph.D. in the anthropology of the Washington lie, a long and storied art form which has always had skilled practitioners of both parties. But Trump has challenged the Fact Checker, Kessler told me over coffee this week, in ways that have tested the very premise of the column. The President, for example, has a habit of repeating the same falsehoods over and over again, especially as they concern his core political causes, such as trade or immigration or getting European allies to contribute more to nato. What should Kessler do, he often asks himself, when Trump repeats a four-Pinocchio whopper? Since taking office, the Postfact-checking team found, Trump has repeated close to a hundred and fifty untruths at least three times. Kessler has instated a Trump-specific database in response. Initially, the Post planned to compile the database of Trump’s misrepresentations as part of a project for his first hundred days in office. But the numbers kept piling up; now, Kessler told me, he is committed to keeping it up for Trump’s full term, documenting every “untruth” (per Post policy, he does not use the label “lies” even for the most egregious Presidential whoppers). “We’re kind of doing it for history,” he said.
I wonder how much of this is intentional, how much is a reaction to the ongoing Russian investigation or how much is a deterioration of his mental faculties. I've known people who had Alzheimer's disease, like his father did, and the longer it progressed the more aggressive they seemed to become and there was an increasing tendency to repeat certain phrases over and over. I saw a discussion this morning with individuals who have previously interviewed Trump before he became president and they say they can see a difference in him that suggests a decline in his mental health. Sadly, I think this is a real possibility. I know that Nancy Reagan wanted to protect President Reagan's image and would not allow the American people see his decline, but it might have been better if she had. Then we would have seen a greater awareness and investment in Alzheimer's research. The onset of Alzheimer's disease can be years before it reaches the phase were it is obvious and during that time a person can give the appearance of mental health to strangers but those closest to them begin to recognize some of the symptoms - Cognitive: mental decline, difficulty thinking and understanding, confusion in the evening hours, delusion, disorientation, forgetfulness, making things up, mental confusion, difficulty concentrating, inability to create new memories, inability to do simple math, or inability to recognize common things
ReplyDeleteBehavioral: aggression, agitation, difficulty with self care, irritability, meaningless repetition of own words, personality changes, restlessness, lack of restraint, or wandering and getting lost
Mood: anger, apathy, general discontent, loneliness, or mood swings
I only saw my Dad maybe once or twice a year so I wasn't as aware of the changes, but my Mom, my brother, other family members, and neighbors saw him regularly and they noticed the changes and he exhibited a number of these symptoms. I see Trump exhibiting them also.