The Method Behind Trump's Lies

[Nevilledog]

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/08/us/politics/trump-speech-mistruths.html

No paywall link
https://archive.li/AgKXh

Since the beginning of his political career, Donald J. Trump has misled, mischaracterized, dissembled, exaggerated and, at times, flatly lied. His flawed statements about the border, the economy, the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 election have formed the bedrock of his 2024 campaign.

Though his penchant for bending the truth, sometimes to the breaking point, has been well documented, a close study of how he does so reveals a kind of technique to his dishonesty: a set of recurring rhetorical moves with which Mr. Trump fuels his popularity among his supporters.

In the week starting with Mr. Trump’s victory speech in Iowa through his win in the New Hampshire primary — the contests that put him on the path to becoming his party’s nominee for the third consecutive time — The New York Times analyzed all of his public statements, including speeches, interviews and social media posts.

His words focused heavily on attacking his political rivals, self-aggrandizing and stoking fear to make his case for 2024. In doing so, Mr. Trump often relied on repeated falsehoods and half-truths. He has yet to deviate from this approach in the general election.

*snip*


Yes, I changed the original headline from "mistruths" to the more accurate Lies.

[underpants]

1. The Washington Post annotated his 30,573 lies while in office.

I think annotated is the right word.

I can’t link to the WaPo story (paywall)

During and after his term as President of the United States, Donald Trump made tens of thousands of false or misleading claims. The Washington Post's fact-checkers documented 30,573 false or misleading claims during his presidential term, an average of about 21 per day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_or_misleading_statements_by_Donald_Trump