Donald Trump lies, shamelessly, all of the time; a fact-checking organization reviewed his statements at one point and rated 75 percent of them, I believe it was, false. While some of his lies are just typical ideological mumbo-jumbo, he has broken new ground by citing long-discredited conspiracy theories, and occasionally he just makes demonstrably and even gratuitously incorrect statements about insignificant facts (e.g., Trump steaks).
The existence of the lies is not in debate. The questions for today are:
- Why does he think this is acceptable behavior?
- Why is he getting away with it?
The most plausible response to #1 is that Trump views politics as just another form of business, and he views his business as an ongoing and ceaseless stream of negotiations in which he is unwise to show his hand too early. In other words, campaigning is nothing but salesmanship, and if the American public is foolish enough to buy into his opening positions, well, caveat emptor.
Does he behave this way with his family? If he ever prays, does he try to make amazing deals with God? The possibility cannot be completely dismissed.
As to #2, part of it is the MSM engaging in their familiar practice of false equivalence, but the larger part is that Trump’s supporters don’t care about the details; the only thing that matters to them is that Trump feels their pain and wants to make them great again by destroying their enemies. In the big picture, the end justifies the means.