Trump’s lies

David Leonhardt at the Times gives us a long list of Trump’s lies in the debate, each with its corroborating link.

He lied about a sex tape.

He lied about his lies about ‘birtherism.’

He lied about the growth rate of the American economy.

He lied about the state of the job market.

[many more]

He lied about her email deletion.

He lied about Obamacare, more than once.

He lied about the rape of a 12-year-old girl.

He lied about his history of groping women without their consent.

Finally, he broke with basic democratic norms and called on his political opponent to be jailed — because, in large part, of what he described as her dishonesty.

That was a moment that caused a physical jolt of shock in me, and I’m confident I’m not the only one. That snarled, “Because you’d be in jail” – that was a bucket of ice water.

This is the second time I’ve summarized a presidential debate by listing Donald Trump’s untruths, and there’s a reason. The country has never had a presidential candidate who lies the way that he does – relentlessly.

Yes, virtually every politician, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, strays from the truth at times. To be fair, virtually every human being does. But Trump is fundamentally different.

His gamble is plain enough: He believes he can fool a lot of the American people a lot of the time. He has decided that lying pays.

It was making me squirm with fury, and again I know I’m not the only one. It made me squirm with fury because in the moment he basically gets away with it – Raddatz and Cooper only rarely pointed out the lies, and Clinton was forced to point them out as a group rather than individually – because there were so damn many. He gets away with it because neither the moderators nor Clinton can be saying “That’s not true!” every ten seconds. He gets away with it by doing so much of it. It’s a disgusting spectacle.

He’s going to lose, but the damage he’s done and will continue to do is not going anywhere. He’s our Hitler and we’re stuck with him.

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