Deciphering the Patterns in Trump's Falsehoods
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/29/us/politics/trump-fact-check.html
Deciphering the Patterns in Trumps Falsehoods
We review how President Trump bent the truth this year by repeating and inflating falsehoods, shifting his statements, embellishing or omitting details, and offering misleading attacks.
By Linda Qiu
Dec. 29, 2018
President Trump has a well-documented problem telling the truth.
Fact checkers have compiled lists of all of Mr. Trumps falsehoods since he took office (The Washington Post counts over 7,500, and The Toronto Star over 3,900), rounded up his most egregious whoppers in year-end lists and scrutinized his claims in real time with television chyrons.
Here at The New York Times, we have also fact-checked countless campaign rallies, news conferences, interviews and Twitter posts. After nearly two years of assessing the accuracy of Mr. Trumps statements, we can draw some conclusions not just about the scale of the presidents mendacity, but also about how he uses inaccurate claims to advance his agenda, criticize the news media and celebrate his achievements.
Repetition and Inflation
Mr. Trump refuses to correct most of his inaccurate claims, instead asserting them over and over again. They become, by sheer force of repetition, alternative facts and staples of his campaign rallies and speeches.
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