More than a decade before Donald Trump announced his candidacy in the opulent, gold-plated Trump Tower in New York City, future senator Al Franken penned the satirical novel about the Republican Party entitled “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” Little did Franken know at the time that the king of political deception would emerge in 2015 with a golden comb-over crown.
Politifact fact checker, Angie Holan, analyzed hundreds of quotes from major modern politicians and determined that most politicians do lie. President Barack Obama was found to be false 26 percent of the time. Democratic frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders lied 28 percent of the time. Republican candidates Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Rand Paul all came in at under 35 percent. These numbers sound shocking.
Yet the most disconcerting fact is that the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, was found to lie or mislead 76 percent of the time. That means that three out of four Trump statements are factually incorrect.
For example, Trump has said many times that he has not accepted funds for his campaign in order to maintain his independence.
“I am self-funding my own campaign. I have no people giving me money.”
This has been widely disproven. Following the third quarter of 2015, Trump contributed only $101,000 to his own campaign while receiving over $3.5 million from donors, according to his filings with the Federal Election Commission.
In addition, Trump famously said, “I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down.”
There is no real evidence to validate this assertion. Local police together with the mayor have all denied such occurrence.
Many Trump supporters flock to the candidate for his “honesty” and ability to say what no one else will. Supporter Susan DeLemus, on CNN, said, “I watch the TV, my — my president comes on the TV and he lies to me! I know he’s lying! He lies all the time. I don’t believe any one of [the politicians]. Not one. I believe Donald. He says what I’m thinking!”
While Trump’s frequent lies should discredit him as viable 2016 candidate, his offensive and bombastic statements push him over the threshold of unacceptable candidates.
If Trump has not offended your religious, ethnic, racial, gender or professional group yet, consider yourself lucky.
“[Mexican immigrants are] bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
“The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.”
“Blood coming out of [Megyn Kelly’s] wherever.”
“I like people who weren’t captured.”
“How stupid are the people of Iowa? How stupid are the people of the country to believe this cr–?”
In just these five quotes, Trump has offended Mexicans, Muslim families, female journalists, veterans, and Iowan voters.
So why is it that Trump continues to lead to the polls by approximately 15 points?
Political psychologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago Matt Motyl has analyzed the Trump phenomenon and argues that his languages, similar to that of demagogues and Mussolini, sparks fear among voters.
“‘We vs. them’ creates a threatening dynamic, where ‘they’ are evil or crazy or ignorant and ‘we’ need a candidate who sees the threat and can alleviate it,” Motyl said.
Trump antagonizes various groups while presenting himself as the solution to these self-fabricated threats. In regards to immigration, this type of xenophobia appeals to Trump supporters whereby a margin of two to one agree that immigrants weaken society.
Yet the irony is that, while Trump has presented himself as the solution to solving illegal immigration, he has put forth no reasonable – or factual – policies for this issue. The same can be said for his positions on Daesh and international relations.
Trump is not the solution. He is just another carnival barker hoping to gain fame and willing to say anything to do so.
