A 20 minute long gish gallop containing mostly lies that he’s told many times before.
I really don’t think this address was a good candidate for “sane washing”. He didn’t say anything really ambiguous that needed “interpretation”, or anything outright insane, like injecting bleach.
It was just a high-speed litany of lies, which you either believe or you don’t.
As the parent of a 17 year old boy, I am glad he didn’t declare war on Venezuela.
Donald Trump, keeping Festivus in his heart all year round.
This may not have been one of his more crazy performances to be ‘sane-washed’ per se, but his lying was played down by more mainstream news outlets. Here’s the take from ms.now, which is often kind of ‘Raw Story Lite’ in its take on all things trumpian. But in this case it downplays the lies and makes them sound like normal Presidential prevaricating:
Trump touted real drops in the prices of eggs, Thanksgiving turkeys and gasoline, as well as cost-cutting deals he made with prescription drug companies. Other claims, though, were inflated, lacking context or unsupported by evidence.
Also, the Raw Story article, as well as other sources I’ve read (such as this thread) give an impression of not just what he said but how he came off, which sounds like it was even more defensive & deep in denial than usual, and maybe even a bit desperate.
Yeah, the high-speed delivery did give that impression.
I said elsewhere that he’s a bad liar, because he’s been surrounded his whole life by people who just smile and nod no matter what he says, so he’s never really had to learn how to come up with convincing lies. But he’s too stupid to understand that, he thinks he’s the greatest liar in the world, because no matter what he says, “people” “believe” him. In his mind, he’s thinking, “I’ve already lied about that, why aren’t you believing me?!?” So he just delivers the same lies again, louder, thinking that surely this time the lies will be believed.
But now, he’s lying to people who don’t have an economic interest in just smiling and nodding at his bullshit, and he can’t figure out why it isn’t working.
He is the greatest liar in the world. Or perhaps it is that our current media environment is just right for someone like Trump to come along.
But millions of Americans will go to their graves passionately believing things that Trump pulled out of an orifice, and handwave the evidence of their eyes, ears, objective data, and even things Trump said yesterday.
Not that I’m disagreeing with this, but I’ve heard a little bit different take on trump that I think describes him well: he’s not a liar, he’s a bullshitter.
A liar is well aware that they’re lying while they do it, and at least makes an attempt to keep track of their lies so they can keep a coherent narrative.
But a bullshitter just says whatever is convenient to say in the moment, with no regard whatsoever as to whether they’re lying or not. They don’t try to keep their lies straight; they can say one thing and completely contradict themselves a couple days later. This perfectly describes trump, and the reason he’s gotten away with it for so long is a combo of enough supporters who were willing to swallow his doublespeak, and MAGA-fied news outlets who would be all “what trump really meant was blah blah…”. Also there’s very much an element of the old quote attributed to Goebbels: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it”.
But when it comes to the economy, he can’t BS and say everything is fine economically when people can clearly see it’s BS. It’s always been about pocketbook politics. The little man behind the curtain is beginning to show.
Yes: misstatements, without evidence, incorrect, baseless, intruth, unsupported, etc etc. It’s all a bunch of passive voice bullshit. He lied, indeed he lies everytime he opens his mouth. There is nothing emotional about the factual description of what he says. His words are lies.
My first thought was, he lied in every word,
That hoary cripple, with malicious eye
Askance to watch the working of his lie
On mine, and mouth scarce able to afford
Suppression of the glee that pursed and scored
Its edge at one more victim gained thereby.
I’m not sure I agree – as others have said, lying means that you know what the truth is. I don’t think he has a clue what prices have done, or whatever. He just says whatever he thinks will help him in the moment – truth or falsehood are not at all a consideration.
I agree the press should use a less passive voice – rather than saying it was a misstatement or baseless, just say “wrong”. “Trump was wrong when he said that overall prices are down.”
My wife is the same when playing chess. She points out the moves she is considering and trying to set up. Talks to herself out loud and points, but never a feint or deception.
She’s actually pretty darn good though. I have to watch my ass.
I’ve told my wife to never play poker.
I would love to play chess against DJT, but he would just tip over the board because I’m absolutely certain he has no idea how to play. To be fair, a lot of people don’t know how. But he is un-teachable.
Oh god, I just thought of a new hell. Try to teach him how to play chess.
Yes, exactly. Like I said upthread, he’s not a liar so much as a bullshitter, saying whatever works for him in the moment, with absolutely no regard to whether what he’s saying are lies or not. I’m not sure he even knows what he says are lies or not anymore. I do think he really believes he is a great President, the greatest President ever, and that he is doing an ‘A+++++’ job on the economy, as he said in a recent interview. His mentality is some twisted combo of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, malignant narcissism, developing dementia, and deeply buried insecurity from being bullied by his father.
Are you sure? Here’s how it would likely go down:
trump would loudly declare “I win!” after every hand and take the pot.
You’d say “no, I clearly won-- look at my hand: I have a full house, and you have a pair of twos”.
trump would say “how dare you!” and immediately post on Truth Social “wguy123, that Mentally Challenged Liberal with TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, insulted me and questioned my character. I’m suing him for $20 million for slandering the great name of your favorite President, Donald J. Trump.”
You’d quickly start getting death threats. The legal fees from the lawsuit would bankrupt you, even though you’d probably eventually win the case. For years afterward, you’ll be looking over your shoulder.
Not sure I should be laughing or crying? I’ll laugh for now. 
Sure, laugh…just be careful what you wish for 
“So how do we play this game?”
“You have to take my king.”
“Which one is that?”
“It’s this one… No, you don’t just reach over and snatch it, that’s not how it works!”
“Yes it is, for winners it is.”
I didn’t watch it, but from the commentary, it sounds like he’s getting tired of all this winning.
I beg to differ. If he was the “greatest”, more people might believe him more often.
He is the most prodigious liar in the world.
But it’s not merely the proportion of people who believe him. It’s that those who do, often get pulled into the cult mentality and believe him about everything. I think that puts him in a “special” category.
From The Atlantic:
We could take apart Trump’s fake facts, as checkers and pundits will do in the next few days. But perhaps more important than false statements—which for Trump are par for the course—was his demeanor. Americans saw a president drenched in panic as he tried to bully an entire nation into admitting he’s doing a great job. For 20 minutes, he vented his hurt feelings without a molecule of empathy or awareness. Economic concerns? Shut up, you fools, the economy is doing fine. (And if it isn’t, it’s not his fault—it’s Joe Biden’s.) Foreign-policy jitters? Zip it, you wimps, America is strong and respected.
In effect, Trump took to the airwaves, pointed his finger, and said: Quiet, piggy.
Gift link to The Atlantic This Is What Presidential Panic Looks Like - The Atlantic