Trump’s 10 Steps for Turning Lies into Half-Truths
To watch this on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HutRU-f501Y
Earlier this year the Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief
insisted that the Wall Street Journal wouldn’t label Trump’s false statements
as “lies.”
Lying, said the editor, requires a deliberate intention to mislead, which couldn’t be proven in Trump’s case.
Lying, said the editor, requires a deliberate intention to mislead, which couldn’t be proven in Trump’s case.
But Donald Trump is the most lying president we’ve ever had, and
he seems to get away with it.
Here’s his 10-step plan for turning lies into near truths:
Here’s his 10-step plan for turning lies into near truths:
Step 2: Experts
contradict him, saying his claim is baseless and false. The media report that
the claim is false.
Step 3: Trump blasts the
experts and condemns the media for being “dishonest.”
Step 4: Trump repeats the
lie in tweets and speeches. And asserts that “many people” say he’s right.
Step 5: The mainstream
media start to describe the lie as a “disputed fact.“
Step 6: Trump repeats the
lie in tweets, interviews, and speeches. His surrogates repeat it on TV and in
the right-wing blogosphere.
Step 7: The mainstream
media begin to describe Trump’s lie as a "controversy.”
Step 8: Polls show a
growing number of Americans (including most Republicans) believing Trump’s lie
to be true.
Step 9: The media start
describing Trump’s lie as “a claim that reflects a partisan divide in America,”
and is “found to be true by many.”
Step 10: The public is
confused and disoriented about what the facts are. Trump wins.
Don’t let Trump’s lies become near truths. Be vigilant. Know the
truth, and spread it. The media should stop mincing words. Report Trump’s lies
as lies.
ROBERT B. REICH is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at
the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center
for Developing Economies. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton
administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective
cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books,
including the best sellers "Aftershock", "The Work of
Nations," and "Beyond Outrage," and, his most recent,
"Saving Capitalism." He is also a founding editor of the American
Prospect magazine, chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary,
INEQUALITY FOR ALL.