Donald Trump Has Told 3,001 Lies As President
Donald Trump's presidency has been defined by his ability to defy the pundits. They said he wouldn't win the nomination, but then he did. They said he wouldn't win the election, but then he did.
And now, he's managed to hit 3,000 false or misleading public statements in the 466 days since he took the oath of office! Congrats Donny. That faint popping sound you can hear is either congratulatory champagne corks or beleaguered political hacks' craniums exploding.
That figure includes untrue statements, claims that aren't backed up by facts and changes of position on events or policies which aren't acknowledged as such.
According to the Washington Post, which has been diligently noting down every single falsehood along with The Fact Checker's database, Trump's 3,001 untrue claims have come at a quicker rate lately.
In the first 100 days, he told 4.9 lies, whereas in the last two months he's told an average of nine a day.
It isn't just the frequency of his lying that's a surprise either - it's the repetition of old lies. The Washington Post found Trump repeated 113 untrue claims at least three times apiece.
Let's have a look at his top five whoppers.
5. “The overall audience was, I think, the biggest ever to watch an inauguration address, which was a great thing” - 26 January 2017
The furore over the inauguration crowd feels almost quaint now, but when the White House claimed 720,000 people attended - and Trump himself went for 1.5 million - it did rather set the tone. Fact-checkers reckon the number was closer to 600,000, a third of Obama's 1.8 million-strong crowd in 2009.
4. "They take a bowling ball from 20 feet up in the air and they drop it on the hood of the car. And if the hood dents, then the car doesn't qualify... It's horrible, the way we're treated" - 14 March 2018
This is apparently how Japanese firms use industry standard tests to block American companies from selling cars in their country and protect trade. Politifact reckon Trump has somehow misconstrued the pedestrian head protection performance test, which measures how much force a person's head would absorb in a collision - so, basically, the exact opposite of smashing the bonnet of a car up. You'll be surprised to learn the test also features precisely zero bowling balls.
3. "You know, one of the things that people don’t understand - we have signed more legislation than anybody. We broke the record of Harry Truman" - 27 December 2017
Afraid not. In his 336 days in office, which was where he was at when he made the claim, Trump ranked last of any post-war president for legislation passed. He'd hit 96 bills by 28 December, 13 behind George W Bush with the next fewest.
2. "We've got to keep our country safe. You look at what's happening in Germany, you look what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden! Who would believe this?" - 18 February 2017
In an attempt to puff up his travel ban, Trump criticised Europe's refugee policies. Look at Sweden! Look at it! So everyone did, and Sweden turned round, slightly confusedly, and pointed out that the worst thing that had happened that day was an avalanche warning. Who would believe this, indeed.
1. "I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said 'it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer'" - 22 September 2017
Besides usually couching any near-admission that Russia might have tried to swing the election alongside wild guesses about who else it could have been, Trump repeatedly called the idea of Russian interference a "hoax" and "a made-up story" and told Time magazine: "I don't believe they interfered". He also believes the butter-wouldn't-melt Vladimir Putin's word on the matter ("Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn't do that. And I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it."). So there.
You Might Also Like
