Why Does Trump Lie?

Why does Donald Trump lie? I mean this sincerely. Why does he lie? He lies outrageously. He lies blatantly . He lies atrociously. Everyone knows he is lying. He even lies when the truth is more potent than the lie. Maybe he likes to lie. Maybe he thinks it’s fun to lie, especially when no one dares to call him a liar (except mainstream media which always calls him a liar but nobody trusts mainstream media because they lie all the time -so who cares what they say?).

During his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Mr. Trump asserted, “just a few short years ago under my presidency we had the most secure border and best economy in the history of our country in the history of the world we had the greatest economy in the history of the world.” During his presidency we had a good economy but it wasn’t the greatest economy the world had ever seen. If it was such a great economy why did he feel the need to continually goose it with deficit spending? A good economy doesn’t need to rely on Keynesian inspired deficits to create economic growth. The Trump administration had projected a deficit of $3 trillion during his four years in office, and that was even before Covid. Why would the greatest economy in the history of the world need a deficit of $3 trillion to be great?.

And remember that chart that he said saved his life? At the convention he said, “you got to see this chart I was so proud of it and by the time I got to there I never got to see it that day but I'm seeing it now and I was very proud if you look at the arrow on the bottom that's the lowest level the one on the bottom the heavy red arrow that's the lowest level of illegal immigrants ever to come into our country in recorded history right there and that was my last week in office.”

Here’s the chart he put up.

But the red arrow on the bottom that is pointing to the lowest level of illegal immigration is not pointing to the last month of Mr. Trump’s presidency, it is pointing to the month that Covid hit the United States. Here is a corrected chart.

He didn’t have to lie. It is clear that illegal immigration was much worse during the Biden Administration than it was under the Trump administration. And it had been declining before Covid struck. But the truth wasn’t good enough for Donald Trump, so he lied. He lied to make himself look better. He lied so he could preen and stick his chin out. He lied because being a good president wasn’t good enough, he had to be the greatest president. But by highlighting the chart in his speech he showed the whole world the lie. Why did he do that?

I think it is a kind of loyalty test. Mr. Trump once famously stated, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" He wouldn’t lose any voters because those voters (his base) are loyal to him. Him personally. Not to justice. Not to American values and principles. To him.

What he was saying in his acceptance speech was, “Ignore the obvious lie. I’m proving a point and you must accept it. Because you are loyal to me.” That is why all his previous opponents for the nomination had to come to the convention and kowtow to him while he smiled from his private booth (much like gladiators facing the Roman emperor in the new series on Peacock, Those About to Die).

Of course, Donald Trump isn’t the only lying politician in this (or any) election cycle. Joe Biden lied about his physical fitness and mental acuity with the whole-hearted support of his inner (and outer) circle. Staunch Biden supporter Senator Chris Coons insisted that Biden was the only Democrat that could beat Trump. And Vice President Kamala Harris insisted that in private meetings Mr. Biden was sharp and focused and called the special counsels description of the president’s demeanor as “wrong on the facts.” Mr. Biden’s problem was that when his lie was exposed to the public at the debate, his supporters did not demonstrate the same fierce loyalty that Mr. Trump demands. Joe Biden could NOT shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and not lose voters.

So now Kamala Harris is being anointed as the new Democratic presidential nominee. Of course, she lied about Joe Biden. I wonder what else she might be lying about.

It seems to me that truth is the greatest casualty of the 21st century. When I was a kid I used to watch Superman starring George Reeves on our black and white television. I well remember him standing in front of a waving American flag as the announcer declared that Superman was “fighting a never ending battle for truth, justice and the American way.” Now, not only do our leaders lie to us, the people that are supposed to hold politicians to the fire, a fierce and independent free press, are also lying to us. The Russia hoax, Hunter’s laptop, the Wuhan lab leak, all these were declared to be false. Even the fact-checkers are lying.

We need leaders that will fight the never ending battle for truth instead of lying to us to advance their agendas. Hopefully those leaders will also include justice and the American Way in their fight.