A.B.O.U.T. Behavior #13 : Telling Lies
The Washington Post Fact Checkers have tallied more than 14,000 lies by Mr. Trump since he took office. He not only lies far more often than the general public, but also far more than most politicians, making him an outlier among out and out liars.
But the Post actually tallies verifiable untruths. And while all lies are untrue, not all untruths are lies. Some lies can be hard to prove, and thus don’t make it into the official listing. Where does the truth really lie?
The Post clearly grossly underestimates the number of untruths told by Mr. Trump, in that they only include an untruth once for any given speech, even if he repeats it numerous times. Which he frequently does. He repeats himself. Over and over again. If you didn’t hear it the first time, you’ll get another chance.
The Post also underestimate his untruths because they exclude predictions. Statements that are wildly out of touch with reality, but are only disprovable once the event occurs, don’t count. So prophecies about election results, economic factors, or his own behavior, or the behavior of his rivals, don’t factor into the total. Mr. Trump has uttered many times more than 14,000 untruths in the last three years.
