Donald Trump and the truth:
Strangers in the night and by day
© 2016



Donald Trump has been caught in so many lies that Politifact, a Pulitizer Prize-winning organization that reviews what candidates say, concluded 76 percent of Trump’s statements are “mostly false,” “false,” or “pants-on-fire” false, which is to say his statements are off the chart false.



Republicans have fixated on Hillary Clinton’s emails for months now with no evidence she did anything wrong or that she lied about anything. Yet Trump has been caught in lie after lie. On March 7, Trump declared, “I’m self-funding my campaign. I’m not taking money. ... I’m not taking. I spent a lot of money. I don’t take.” But on Jan. 31, Trump’s campaign accepted $7.5 million from donors.


In February, after his Nevada win, Trump claimed he is “number one with Hispanics.” But 93 percent of the Latinos in Nevada didn’t vote for Trump. A Washington Post-Univision poll in February found that 80% of registered Hispanic voters viewed Trump unfavorably.


On November 23: Trump claimed 81 percent of murdered white people were killed by black people. The truth is 84 percent of murdered white people are murdered by other white people. Trump cited the “Crime Statistics Bureau in San Francisco” as his source. But no such bureau exists. It’s a false bureau created by a white supremacist on Twitter.


In the last presidential election, Trump chided Mitt Romney for not releasing his tax returns. But in the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has refused to release his own tax returns. He is the first major candidate in 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns. Tax returns would reveal a lot about Trump’s finances—and whether he is as rich as he claims. That could be a reason why he has repeatedly failed to release his tax returns.


In an interview, ABC’s This Week, asked Trump what tax rate he pays. Trump replied, “It’s none of your business.”



Trump has been allowed to get away with his repeated lies because the mainstream media has allowed him to get away with it. They have refused to push Trump on his lies. They have allowed him to simply call in on interview programs, which breaks tradition.


Like his supporters, the mainstream media have treated Trump with an unbelievable and unprecedented amount of deference. In their slavish pursuit of ratings, the mainstream media have helped to create Trump. They’ve failed to hold him to the same standards they’ve held other politicians/entertainers.


The public needs to make it’s voice known to the media, and it needs to make its voice known at the ballot box.