October 31: On This Day In 2018
If historians immortalize the Trump Administration with one single phrase of Donald's, it should be this:
Throughout this campaign, we've seen how Trump has regurgitated the words of Stalin and Mao. And of Hitler. These dictators, and Donald Trump, have long understood what George Orwell noted in "1984": "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." Trump took this lesson to heart. "What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."
Donald Trump has lied about EVERY conceivable material aspect of his life. Pre, during, and post-presidency.
Every core virtue Donald Trump claimed about his life before becoming president was a lie. That's how he conned people into voting for him.
So it's not surprising that, while president, Trump became the biggest recorded liar in the history of human civilization. Literally. That's how he conned people into supporting him.
In his post-presidency, virtually every material accomplishment he brags about from the Trump Administration is a lie. That's how he conned people into maintaining their adoration.
In this campaign, virtually every material bad thing he complains about Kamala Harris is a lie. That's how he expects to con his way to re-election next week.
Read on for the evidence.
His pre-presidency life
These are his noble virtues his fans admire about him. They are all lies.
His Origins story
In The Art of the Deal, and elsewhere, he pretended that his family had come to the U.S. from Sweden.
His name
He mocks Democrats for having changed their names, but his father and family members before him did so too
As an adult, Donald frequently impersonated a fake PR person "John Barron" (among other names) in order to get his Donald Trump persona on the society pages of NY newspapers. (Later, he was so tickled by his trickery that he named his own son after his own fake name).
His tax filings throughout his youth
The Trump Family probably took hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. taxpayers via what's commonly thought of as "tax fraud"
His academic record in high school
I certainly didn't get the impression I was sitting in front of a genius, said the admissions officer.
His SATs
He had somebody take them for him
His university he attended
No, his first college was not Penn
His academic success at university
Have you seen the transcripts? No, he won't let you. But, he has bragged about being "first in his class," when in reality he didn't even make the honor roll.
Speaking of universities, how about the one he invented and pitched to his scammed victims?
He was punished and fined for his fraud
His financial start
The small $1 million he claims he got from his father to kickstart his career? It actually exceeded half a billion dollars.
His first business success
Approved and built on the basis of a trick
His competence
His dozens of business failures
His business successes thereafter
He was, arguably, the worst businessperson in America
His investment expertise
If he had only taken his ill-gotten funds and put them in the stock market, instead of becoming a builder and an investor, he would have been richer by many billion dollars.
His success on "The Apprentice"
Although this was perhaps his greatest financial triumph, the whole thing was a carefully-crafted charade, engineered by seasoned TV producers to cover up his startling incompetence.
His home
It's much smaller and worth less than he brags about
His buildings
He lies about how many floors they have, and he even lies about how many floors the neighboring buildings have
All his other assets
He was found by a court to have overstated his assets by several billion dollars, and was fined over $350 million for having done so.
His net worth
His presence on the Forbes billionaire list was seemingly a lie
His honor
What wealth he does have came, in some degree, by simply stiffing people to whom he owed money. And then cancelling his other debts via bankruptcy.
His charity
His "Trump Foundation" was determined by a court to be so riddled with fraud that it had to be forced to close.
The acumen of his children
They cheated investors and got away with it apparently the old fashioned way: Money
His magnetic appeal to women
He admits to assaulting women, and was fined by a judge nearly $100 million for assaulting one via "rape."
His fidelity to his three wives
The normalcy of his relationship with Melania
This is far from a traditional, loving union
His health
He repeatedly lies and misrepresents it
His strength and vigor
He's so out of shape that often he can't really walk. Or handle ramps (even though he mocks Biden for tripping). This month, October 2024, he seems to be having difficulty moving his right leg.
His size
His introductory framing
In his 2016 campaign kickoff, he didn't lie only that "Mexico will pay for the wall." He lied about nearly everything else too. He even paid for a visual mirage which made it appear he had actual supporters.
His "America First" slogan
During his presidency, he made it clear that under his reign it's actually "Trump First, America Second. Or Maybe America Third after Putin"
His open mouth
He spewed a "daily barrage" of lies during his 2016 campaign.
His presidency
Trump ramped up his con job during those four years
January 20, 2017: He started on Day One lying about crowd sizes and, immediately, presenting the White House version of "Alternative Facts."
January 20, 2021: On his last day in office, Trump went out in a blaze of lies. As the AP put it, “In his final remarks as president, Donald Trump tried to take credit for accomplishments of his predecessor and even those to come under President Joe Biden. Falsehoods suffused his farewell remarks…”
In between those two days, Trump told 30,573 false or misleading claims. That's an average of 21 lies per day, every day, even on weekends. Even including days he didn't speak to the public at all.
This brings us to today's OTDI. Today wraps up October 2024. OTDI 2018, Trump wrapped up an epic month of lying. That month, he told 1,205 false or misleading statements. Let’s repeat that: The President of the United States lied 1,205 times in just one month. An average of 39 times every day. Dear Reader: Imagine how hard it would be for you to invent that many lies yourself. But our Dear Leader handled that task with practiced aplomb.
Please go back to 2015 when Trump first started running. Imagine we were told that a candidate would lie to us 39 times one day. And then do that again…for each of the next 30 days. Would we have believed any of their campaign promises? Would we have voted for them? And later, when they took credit for good things they did while in office, could we have believed those either?
"So," his supporters argue, "Trump lies. We get it. He even told us that he likes to lie in the 'Art of the Deal.' But he did so many good things for us, and Kamala is a Commie."
The natural pushback should be: "In July 2018, 76% of his claims at a campaign rally were 'false, mostly false, or lacking evidence.' SEVENTY-SIX PERCENT.
"So, how can you be so sure he did good things? You know you cannot trust anything that comes out of Trump’s mouth. So that means you cannot believe him when he says his policies were successful. You cannot believe him when he takes credit for a policy which was well-regarded. You think you can sift out the truth from his mountain of lies? Why should a president even put you in a position where you're forced to try doing so?"
Well, we've sifted out some of the key lies for them.
His post-presidency
The con man has perfected the Art of the Lie
Every material thing he claims was good about the Trump Administration was a lie. Here are just a few of the more consequential examples of his favorite boasts.
He says his economy was the best.
He claims his tax cuts were the largest in history
They were far from that.
Most of the benefits of the tax cuts went to the highest-income earners and to corporations. The impact on the average American household was fairly modest, if there was one at all.
He claims he built his pet Wall and that Mexico paid for it
The border is 1,926 miles long. He built just 52 miles of new primary "wall system." Costs were exponentially higher than promised. And Mexico paid not a penny. But you, the American taxpayer, did.
He claims he commands respect on the world stage
In reality, world leaders laugh at him (several times) and the citizens of most countries around the world strongly mistrust him.
"Putin thinks he can play Trump like a fiddle." Erdogan ignores him after suckering him into abandoning our allies. And Xi abuses human rights with Trump's tacit approval.
He claims he held Iran in check
Since Trump came on the scene and withdrew from our nuclear agreement, Iran has run wild. They have dramatically expanded their nuclear development program so that they're now capable of building a bomb in a short timeframe. They have directly attacked U.S. troops. They have directly attacked our ally Israel with hundreds of missiles; and they have supported attacks by their proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others. Iran is the world's most destabilizing force these days, and it's the fault of Donald Trump.
He claims to have triumphed over Covid
We agree Operation Warp Speed was a good thing. But, we believe anybody in his position would have done the same thing. And by most measures, the U.S. had the worst response and worst outcomes from Covid of any peer nation.
We also had the longest lingering "tail" of Covid deaths, in large part because so many Republicans believed he wanted them to avoid mask and vaccines. Fortunately, only very few actually drank bleach.
He claimed on his Abraham Accords would help align our ally Israel with more of the Arab world
While it’s good to have alliances, and trade benefited, most of those new allies have not been particularly eager to help Israel fend off the Iranian-backed terrorists who have been attacking them for a year.
He claims the election was stolen and the next one is imperiled
He claims he gave up a life of leisure and wealth in order to serve our nation as president, both in 2016 and in 2024
Members of the Trump Family have received several billion dollars from foreign governments since he took office. Let alone lying to U.S. citizens in his fund-raising pleas, enabling him to pocket or divert several hundred million dollars from his supporters. And let alone the funds he found creative ways to earn from U.S. taxpayers while president.
He claims to be a "Very stable genius"
Actually, he's the exact opposite. Some have reported that he can barely read. His staff ran out of ways to describe how stupid he is; we'll agree on "f*cking moron." And even his own family says he's "unstable."
Many of his top advisors are not supporting his re-election. Rather, many are calling him a dangerous, fascist threat to the United States.
He claims to be a healer. He says Jan 6, and his MSG rally were days "of love."
Actually, he continually seemed to extol the virtues of violence. It seems not-coincidental that the levels of hate crimes soared on his watch, and the overall level of discourse fell. America has lost connective tissue under Trump. It's no longer that "we're all in this together," now it's Me vs. You. And by seeking to singlehandedly override constitutional laws, by forcing his staffers to ignore Congressional subpoenas, and by aligning with the GOP in their efforts to steal the Supreme Court, Trump severs the bond citizens feel -- or should feel -- with their government. And with each other.
He claims to have saved Obamacare: Wrong, he tried to end it. He claims to be the father of IVF: Wrong, he literally didn't even know what "IVF" is until a month ago. He claimed that by getting Roe v Wade reversed he was doing what "everyone" wanted: So very very very wrong.
Etc. You get the point.
Now, his complaints about Harris are mostly lies
Again too many to list. But here are some of his more salient false smears
She's weak regarding the Southern Border.
The Biden/Harris border policy has brought crossings down to below where they were during the Trump years. They've been far more effective than they're getting credit for. And that's despite an out-of-work Donald Trump personally forcing Congressional GOPers to nix a bipartisan plan.
Biden/Harris caused the inflation spike of 2021-2023
The inflation spike was felt across the globe. It was indeed brought on in part by government stimulus, but that stimulus went to the pockets of American households to help them through Covid.
Inflation has returned back to normal, although, perhaps due to Trump's constant lying on the topic, many Americans don't believe that it has. And this recovery happened faster and better than in all other comparable countries. The Biden/Harris American economy is now the envy of the world.
Yes, overall, prices have gone up since Biden/Harris took office. But, overall, wages have gone up even more since 2019.
She's a communist whose economic policies going forward would be disastrous
Trump's economic plans going forward would be far worse and would explode the deficit. At least according to twenty-three Nobel Prize-winning economists.
She and Biden caused the disastrous exit from Afghanistan.
Could they have executed that week better? Yes. But it was Donald Trump who capitulated to the Taliban and caused us to withdraw our troops.
Trump also, btw, fled from Syria, on no notice, thereby giving up on our foreign policy goals and capitulating to Putin, Turkey, and Assad.
Harris will not keep America safe
While president, Trump single-handedly was seen as a risk to national security. Because he is a stupid man, he leaked or gave away crucial American secrets on multiple occasions. And he overruled the FBI to give security clearance to those who hadn't passed screening. Even his own staff didn't trust him. This time, it seems he may not even bother having the FBI vet people before he starts giving them secret info.
She's a newly-Black, low-IQ individual who slept her way to the top.
Not going to dignify those with responses.
Her name is pronounced "ka-MAH-la"
Either he's too stupid to learn how to properly say the name of this country's vice president, or he's a vile racist who wants his audiences to be racist too. Those are the only two choices. Either alone should be disqualifying.
There has been a spate of findings this week that the "Russian disinformation network is taking aim at US presidential election." And also that "Election officials are outmatched by Elon Musk’s misinformation machine."
While the Trump campaign surely appreciates the outside assistance, there has never been a disinformation machine like the mouth of Donald J. Trump.
Obama recently told a revealing story. He said people tell him they're grateful to Trump for sending them a check during Covid. (The fraud behind those checks was discussed in this OTDI). "I want to make sure you understand this," thundered Obama. "Congress sent you a check. By the way, Joe Biden also sent you a check during the pandemic, just like I gave people relief during the Great Recession. The difference is that we didn’t put our names on it – because it wasn’t about feeding our egos or advancing our politics, it was about helping people. So don’t be giving him credit for that. And don’t give him your vote, either."
Don't be giving him credit for virtually anything good that he claims.
Who would have guessed that after Trump the con man spoke millions of words, among his truest were these:
Glance over these categories of lies. How many of these things are true about Joe Biden? About Barack Obama? About Mitt Romney? About John McCain? Very few, if any.
In those elections, our choice was between two grownups who, although their policies and methods differed, were sane and had the country's best interests at heart. That's true of only one candidate in 2024.
Trump has accused our war heroes of being "suckers and losers." Wait, maybe that's the "one single phrase of Donald's" which describes him best.
On This Day In The Trump Administration: OTDI's Closing Argument: Everything about Trump is a con