The Very Best Liar: Nearly a Year In Trump Averages 5.6 Untrue Statements Per Day
"All governments lie " as the saying goes  but  Donald Trump  appears to have taken presidential lying to new heights during just  his  first year in the White House.
According to an ongoing analysis by the Washington Post that has tracked  Trump 's formal speeches  Twitter tirades  and impromptu remarks to the press  the president made 1 950 false or misleading statements during his first 347 days in office. On average  the president says something that is untrue 5.6 times per day.
With just over two weeks left before he reaches the one-year mark   Trump  is on track to surpass 2 000 lies  misleading the public at a far higher rate than  his  recent predecessors.
As the Post's database demonstrates   Trump 's lies come in a variety of forms and pervade nearly every topic  he  discusses  from jobs and the stock market to immigration and foreign policy.
The database also makes clear that the president isn't sufficiently inventive to come up with new lies on a day-to-day basis. Rather   he  frequently rehashes old onesâ Trump  has repeated the claim that Obamacare is "essentially" dead over 50 times  for instance.  Trump  has also repeatedly insistedâcontradicting all available evidenceâthat the tax bill  he  signed into law last month will cost  him  "a fortune."
" Trump  repeated the falsehood about having the biggest tax cut 53 times  even though Treasury Department data shows it would rank eighth " the Post adds. "And 58 times  Trump  has claimed that the United States pays the highest corporate taxes (25 times) or that it is one of the highest-taxed nations (33 times). The latter is false; the former is misleading  as the effective U.S. corporate tax rate (what companies end up paying after deductions and benefits) ends up being lower than the statutory tax rate."
The problem  as many analysts have noted  is that  Trump 's prodigious lying has had little to no effect on his core base of support.
As The Atlantic's David Graham noted last year  hardcore supporters of the president are often unfazed by his false statements. Though  Trump  backers are frequently willing to admit when the president says something that is untrue  their support for him rarely wavers because of his misleading claims.
In a column for the Philadelphia Daily News on Monday  Will Bunch warned that  Trump 's base of support combined with  his  ability to manipulate the media raises the "scary" possibilityâdespite polls showing  he  is the least popular first-year president in American historyâthat  he  could still win reelection in 2020.
"It's scary to have a president who lies so brazenly and who seems out-of-touch with fundamental reality " Bunch concluded  "but it's even scarier to think  he  could still be doing this from a presidential perch seven years from now."
"All governments lie " as the saying goes  but   [TGT] appears to have taken presidential lying to new heights during just   [TGT]   first year in the White House.
According to an ongoing analysis by the Washington Post that has tracked   [TGT]  's formal speeches  Twitter tirades  and impromptu remarks to the press   [TGT]  made 1 950 false or misleading statements during  [TGT]  first 347 days in office. On average   [TGT]  says something that is untrue 5.6 times per day.
With just over two weeks left before  [TGT]  reaches the one-year mark    [TGT] is on track to surpass 2 000 lies  misleading the public at a far higher rate than   [TGT]   recent predecessors.
As the Post's database demonstrates   Trump 's lies come in a variety of forms and pervade nearly every topic  he  discusses  from jobs and the stock market to immigration and foreign policy.
The database also makes clear that  [TGT]  isn't sufficiently inventive to come up with new lies on a day-to-day basis. Rather   he  frequently rehashes old onesâ Trump  has repeated the claim that Obamacare is "essentially" dead over 50 times  for instance.   [TGT] has also repeatedly insistedâcontradicting all available evidenceâthat the tax bill   [TGT]   signed into law last month will cost   [TGT]   "a fortune."
"  [TGT]   repeated the falsehood about having the biggest tax cut 53 times  even though Treasury Department data shows it would rank eighth " the Post adds. "And 58 times   [TGT] has claimed that the United States pays the highest corporate taxes (25 times) or that  [TGT]  is one of the highest-taxed nations (33 times). The latter is false; the former is misleading  as the effective U.S. corporate tax rate (what companies end up paying after deductions and benefits) ends up being lower than the statutory tax rate."
The problem  as many analysts have noted  is that  Trump 's prodigious lying has had little to no effect on his core base of support.
As The Atlantic's David Graham noted last year  hardcore supporters of the president are often unfazed by his false statements. Though   [TGT]   backers are frequently willing to admit when the president says something that is untrue  their support for him rarely wavers because of his misleading claims.
In a column for the Philadelphia Daily News on Monday  Will Bunch warned that  Trump 's base of support combined with  his  ability to manipulate the media raises the "scary" possibilityâdespite polls showing  he  is the least popular first-year president in American historyâthat  he  could still win reelection in 2020.
"It's scary to have a president who lies so brazenly and who seems out-of-touch with fundamental reality " Bunch concluded  "but it's even scarier to think  he  could still be doing this from a presidential perch seven years from now."