Donald Trump systematic shreds the facts. He lies repeatedly, sometime contradicting himself in the same interview. This week has been a doozy for lies. My picks for the top three Trump lies from the past week are:
1.Saying he did not know Whitaker’s views on Mueller
In an interview with Fox News Sunday Trump claimed “I did not know he took views on the Mueller investigation as such,” He added that he doesn’t believe Whitaker’s past statements had any effect on his choice once he learned of the comments. The Hill
Given Trump spent months complaining about Sessions, the Mueller investigation, and the Justice Department in general, this simply does not pass the laugh test. Rather than going with the Deputy Attorney General, he has gone out of his way to pick an individual who has virtually no qualifications for the job, has not been approved by the Senate, and has a very shady past. His only outstanding feature is he has been an outspoken and extreme critic of the Mueller investigation.
2. being unsure whether Saudi Crown prince knew of Khashoggi murder
The President rejected the CIA’s assessment and said he is unsure if the crown prince was complicit and knew about Khashoggi’s murder in advance. ‘Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!’ Foxnews
He has gone on to proclaim all the positives that America gets from our relationship with the Saudis. He has basically said to the world that if you throw enough money at us, we will look the other way when it comes to atrocities your regime commits. We have made it clear what we are. All that is left is to negotiate the price.
3. Saying he does not mind getting bad news when he is wrong
The catch with this lie is that he claims to never be wrong so the statement becomes irrelevant. In an interview this weekend, Chris Wallace said to Trump,
” But there have been people who have been critical of other presidents, they’re they’re — no president has liked his press coverage. John Kennedy, in your Oval Office, canceled the subscription to the New York Herald-Tribune. Nobody called it the enemy of the American people.”
Trump responded ” Chris, I’m calling the fake news is the enemy — it’s fake, it’s phony.”
Wallace said “But a lot of times, sir, it’s just news you don’t like “–
Trump replied “No it’s not, no. No. I don’t mind getting bad news if I’m wrong. If I do something wrong – like, for instance, the cemetery. I was not allowed to go because of the Secret Service. Because they expected to take a helicopter” Realclearpolitics
Trump came very close to taking responsibility for not visiting the cemetery in France in this interview. But he just could not bring himself to do this and he ended up blaming the Secret Service.