Donald Trump Has Been Lying to the American Public, and Journalists Need to Call Him Out
Journalists who are most cautious with the lie label argue that we cannot truly know Trumps purpose for sh*tting on the very concept of facts.Source: Teen Vogue
Lately there has been a reinvigorated conversation around labeling something a lie. The debate boils down to a question of intent: Journalists who are most cautious with the lie label argue that we cannot truly know Trumps purpose for shitting on the very concept of facts. Is he working off of misinformation? Is he exaggerating with his Art of the Deal tactic of truthful hyperbole? Is he hallucinating an anthropomorphic pumpkin that is telling him what to say? We are not inside the presidents brain, they argue, and so we cannot know.
One such journalist is Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The New York Times. On Sunday, May 27, she responded to criticism about her frequent refusal to use the word lie in her work with a series of tweets. I have written stories about his lies, falsehoods, whoppers, half-truths, salesman-like stretches, she tweeted. The reality is that what he does can be hard to label because, as anyone who has worked for him will tell you in candor, he often thinks whatever he says is whats real. As far as Im concerned, all of those euphemisms for lies still mean lies, and if, as Haberman asserts, he really believes them, then she should report that it is also possible that the president is out touch with reality.
Later on May 27, Brian Stelter, host of CNNs Reliable Sources, discussed the lie debate. In a segment titled All the Presidents Lies, he argued that more nuance is required. We need to distinguish between a deflection, an exaggeration, and a straight-up lie, Stelter said, pointing to a recent example in which Trump tweeted that killings in Chicago are happening at a record pace. Thankfully, theyre not, Stelter continued. The number is on the way down. So either Trump has the wrong information, which makes this a falsehood, or hes lying. Look, its bad either way, but we need to recognize the differences.
This, too, is missing the point.
Read more: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/thigh-high-politics-donald-trump-lying-journalists-need-to-call-him-out
Control-Z
(15,682 posts)It's a good and honest article.
BigmanPigman
(51,627 posts)A lie by any other name would be as purposely false.
OK, I get the subtle difference since the objective listener is supposed to consider the source and the context of the "lie" before deciding whether it is an out and out lie made on purpose for whatever reason or a crazy person who is so deranged that he can not tell truth from fiction, fact from lie. If this is how we are supposed to run a major country then that is the answer right there! If we have a leader who is so fucked up and evil that no one, including foreign leaders, can tell if he really means what he says or is simply crazy than we have a problem...a.huge one.
Just discussing this issue is a giant red flag. If we have ongoing doubt about every word out of his mouth every single minute of his time in office, than he should not be in office at all. The cabinet needs to remove him under the 25th Amend since he is a real and dangerous threat to the safety of the country. He isn't fit for office and must be removed ASAP! The cabinet won't do it since they are raping the very agencies they were hired to oversee. They are the definition of selfish corruption and should be removed as well. The GOP owns ALL OF THIS! Our job, if we survive intact and sane from this nightmare/shit show it to make sure this can never happen again. We may have to change the constitution by limiting SCOTUS years of service or getting rid of the electoral vote in favor of a popular vote and changing a zillion laws as well as making new ones in both chambers to protect all 3 branches and make the checks and balances fair as the founders intended.