CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – President Trump, who has lied continually since he was elected president last November, outdid even himself yesterday with the number and types of lies he told a crowd of supporters at a campaign-style rally in Davenport, Iowa.
He told the people that his administration was responsible for signing more legislation than almost any administration in U.S. history. The crowd cheered and applauded wildly. The truth is, of course, that he has not been able to accomplish anything legislatively.
He told the people that he has restarted construction of oil pipelines using only American steel, “not stuff brought here on boats.” The crowd cheered wildly. The truth is that Chinese, not U.S. steel, is being used not only on pipelines but on construction projects that Mr. Trump owns.
He told the crowd that because of his recent trip to the Middle East “Muslim nations are listening” to his insistence that they spend their money buying American goods, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars for American businesses and jobs. The crowd cheered wildly, raising up Trump campaign posters as they cheered. The truth is that most of the economic deals Trump was referring to were made during the Obama administration.
He told the people that he was responsible for the opening of a brand new coal mine in Pennsylvania. No such coal mine has been opened.
He interrupted his litany of lies by pointing to the media in front of the podium to tell yet another lie about the media. He declared that CNN, not wanting to show his list of “accomplishments,” had just shut off its camera. This time the crowd booed and hissed loudly. The truth is that CNN had not shut off its camera. The network kept it on throughout Trump’s speech.
He announced that he is a “builder, that’s what I do best” and that his policies have restarted the home-building industry in the U.S. The people again cheered loudly and wildly and they whistled too. The truth is that housing construction is down across America with housing starts dropping sharply and banks unwilling to lend for construction.
He said that the Paris agreement was a “catastrophe for the United States’ and that he pulled the U.S. out of it because it was “binding” on the United States. “Like hell it’s not binding,” he declared. And again the people cheered loudly and many again whistled too. The truth, however, is that the agreement was not, as the president said, binding. It set reasonable voluntary goals.
He said he was for healthcare with “heart” and the people cheered again. As they cheered and whistled too the Senate was secretly crafting its version of Trumpcare which will throw off of healthcare many of the people who were in that audience cheering for Trump.
He said he would propose new legislation soon that would require immigrants to prove they could support themselves and prevent them form collecting welfare or other benefits for five years after they enter the country. The people cheered louder than even before and again many whistled and some hooted too. Either they didn’t know or they didn’t care that this too was another lie. Such laws already exist. Even millions of undocumented immigrants pay into Social Security without ever being able to collect any of the benefits.
I have covered a lot of rallies in my day and a lot of presidential speeches. This is the first time, however, that the rules of fairness and objectivity in journalism required simply that I list all the president’s lies.
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