Trump Made Lying Acceptable For Millions; It’s Time For It To Stop
Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | February 2, 2023
Children are often told the story of George Washington telling his father, “I cannot tell a lie. I chopped down the cherry tree.”
That story is, ironically, untrue.
But this next presidential story is true.
By the time he left office in January 2021, The Washington Post reported, President Donald Trump had made “30,573 false or misleading claims” during his presidency.
“What is especially striking is how the tsunami of untruths kept rising the longer he served as President and became increasingly unmoored from the truth,” The Post noted.
Trump started down his path to legitimize lying in our society in 2011 when he elevated the so-called birther theory – questioning whether President Obama was born in the United States – to national prominence.
Trump’s incessant lying as President was but a prelude to his embrace of the Big Lie in which he kept repeating that the 2020 presidential election was being rigged against him. Once he lost, he kept repeating – to this day and at every opportunity – that the election was stolen from him.
Trump’s use of the Big Lie is a propaganda technique associated with Nazi Germany. It is based on the view that if you keep repeating a lie over and over, people will eventually believe it.
Trump has done incalculable damage with his nonstop Big Lie.
He has undermined confidence and trust in our elections with tens of millions of Americans. He has endangered election officials around the country. He has created a national movement of election deniers prepared to fight against any election result that does not result in victory for their candidate.
He has led an unprecedented attempt at a presidential coup and inspired and promoted a direct attack on the U.S. Capitol, the cradle of our democracy. He has turned many of his supporters against our country and democracy.
His Big Lie has spurred voter suppression and election sabotage laws in numerous states. These laws have one purpose: to tilt elections to result in Republican victories.
So, how did Trump persuade millions of his supporters that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, despite not having a shred of evidence to back up his claim?
One explanation is that the polarization in our country and the resulting tribe-like divisions has reached such intensity that people believe whatever their tribe claims and disbelieve whatever the other side says.
Another factor is that disinformation has become so powerful and widespread that facts have lost their saliency for millions.
Another explanation comes from how social media allows disinformation, conspiracy theories, and repetitive lies like Trump’s to rapidly spread. And the rapid evolution of AI is making disinformation and conspiracy theories much easier to elevate and much harder to detect.
Trump’s demagogic Big Lie has been empowered by all of this and continues to play a pivotal role in dividing our country and threatening our democracy.
This must end.
Trump must be held legally accountable for his actions.
The 147 Republicans in Congress who voted against certifying Biden’s victory, after the deadly Capitol insurrection, must not be given a pass. These Members endangered our democracy and endorsed Trump’s lies about a stolen election. They willingly participated in the attacks on the integrity of our elections and on our democracy.
Republicans who stood up for democracy and against the Big Lie must be recognized and applauded, such as former Philadelphia election official Al Schmidt, former Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and former U.S. Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
The Big Lie continues to play out today in the House of Representatives where MAGA extremists are weaponizing the House to defend the extraordinary damage that Trump and his followers have done, to exact revenge on President Biden, and to attack those who sought to protect our democracy.
Citizens can make a difference in this historic battle by making their voices heard. Vote. Join organizations fighting to defend our democracy. Volunteer in campaigns or help in local elections. Stand up to and challenge those elected leaders and candidates who continue to perpetuate the Big Lie.
Our democracy is at stake and we must defend it – now.
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Fred’s Weekly Note appears each Thursday in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s and other recent newsletters here. And, subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.
