Trump is using a tried and true (at least for awhile) tool of authoritarians and fascists. The Big Lie and other techniques which challenge the very meaning of "facts and truth". I posted a video from Vox that explains how Putin and Trump embrace lying as propaganda. They distort the notions of fact, truth, and expertise for the very purpose of making everything about power and force of will. If there is no real fact and truth, then the only thing that matters is getting enough people to take your opinion over others.
Trump can easily be shown using his own words, and the actions taken by the administration, to have wasted time, downplayed, and generally had a completely incompetent response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The problem is that he has gone on television every day for the last few weeks and has been lying about his response. The other problem is that the media has allowed him to have basically unfettered access to the airwaves to spew whatever lies he wants.
There have been reporters who have pushed back but they have been singled out and put into the category of "Nasty" or "Fake News". Trump is leveraging the office of the presidency to substitute authority for truth and trustworthiness.
We on DU are obviously more immune to the lies, but there are many people who want to give the president the benefit of the doubt, who think that the president would not lie, and who want to believe that "good things are happening" because they are scared.
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