Donald Trump consistently makes astonishingly false statements, contradicting verifiable facts and eyewitness accounts on issues ranging from an ICE agent shooting to inflation and gasoline prices, prompting questions about his 'big lie' political strategy and its dangerous implications for distinguishing truth from fiction.
The article details Donald Trump's consistent pattern of making demonstrably false statements, encapsulated by the motto 'Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?' It highlights several egregious examples where Trump's claims directly contradict visible evidence. A primary instance involves the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent; Trump falsely asserted Good 'viciously ran over' the officer, despite video evidence showing the agent, Jonathan Ross, walking away after shooting her three times. Trump's administration, including Kristi Noem and JD Vance, then echoed these false claims to malign Good and defend Ross, suggesting a strategy to encourage impunity among agents. The article also scrutinizes Trump's economic falsehoods. He claimed 'no inflation' and 'every price is down,' yet official reports show ongoing inflation (2.7%) and rising grocery prices for many items like coffee, beef, and sugar. Similarly, his assertion of $1.99/gallon gasoline 'in much of the country' is debunked by national averages over $2.80. Trump's boasts about healthcare price cuts, claiming impossible percentages like 500% to 3,000%, are also presented as absurdities. Further examples of his outlandish falsehoods include claiming Ukraine started its war with Russia, Portland was 'burning to the ground,' and Barack Obama founded ISIS. The author suggests Trump's motivations for these 'fantastical falsehoods' stem from a lack of factual grip, living in a bubble where he's unchallenged, a desire to 'own the libs,' and a conviction that 'alternate facts' are an effective political strategy. The piece draws parallels to Richard Pryor's comedic line and the 'big lie' strategy used by Nazis in the 1930s. Citing Hannah Arendt's 'The Origins of Totalitarianism,' the article warns that such a constant 'firehose of falsehoods' creates an 'upside-down world' where the distinction between fact and fiction vanishes, making people susceptible to demagogues. A critical danger highlighted is the potential for government agents, like ICE, to act with impunity, confident that a Trump administration will defend them '1,000%' with lies, fostering a lack of accountability.
