Serial fabulism

By Aaron Blake
April 6 at 8:04 AM

In an interview with the New York Times on Wednesday, President Trump claimed former national security adviser Susan E. Rice broke the law — without saying which law or providing any evidence ...

Also in the course of the interview .. Trump maintained that Democratic Rep. Elijah E. Cummings had told Trump that he would rank among the best presidents ever ...

There is precisely zero chance this is true. None. Zip. Nada. As journalists, we are trained to be circumspect — to always allow for the possibility of something we don't know to be 100 percent true. It's why journalists don't accuse Trump of lying when he says things that are clearly untrue. But there is just no chance, unless Cummings's whole political career is a lie and he's a secret sleeper agent for Republicans who is really, really playing the long game after 20 years. Flattery is a big part of the game in politics, and you can guarantee all kinds of disingenuous praise is offered in private settings ...

... Cummings, a Congressional Black Caucus member from Maryland ... explained in a statement to The Fix: “During my meeting with the president and on several occasions since then, I have said repeatedly that he could be a great president if … if … he takes steps to truly represent all Americans rather than continuing on the divisive and harmful path he is currently on” ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/06/trumps-completely-bizarre-claim-that-a-democrat-said-he-would-rank-among-the-greatest-presidents/?utm_term=.9e09f240f6a2