There is good reason why Clinton’s trustworthiness ratings are very low and questions about her character have persisted. Clinton, however, is not the one who bullshits instinctively and essentially makes it a lifestyle choice.
The professor who wrote the insightful (and short!) book “On Bullshit” defined the difference between a liar and a bullshitter pretty well:
[QUOTE=Harry Frankfurt]
The distinction between lying and bullshitting is fairly clear. The liar asserts something which he himself believes to be false. He deliberately misrepresents what he takes to be the truth. The bullshitter, on the other hand, is not constrained by any consideration of what may or may not be true. In making his assertion, he is indifferent to whether what he is says is true or false. His goal is not to report facts. It is, rather, to shape the beliefs and attitudes of his listeners in a certain way.
[/QUOTE]
The sad truth is pretty much everyone lies at one point or another in their life. Doesn’t make it right or acceptable, and Clinton seems to have done it or danced on its edge enough times, albeit selectively, to warrant serious skepticism from here on out. She is not a bullshitter, though. Trump is in a universe of his own in that respect.
Normal candidates, like Clinton, usually have a few big lies to their name - from Nixon’s secret war in Laos and Cambodia while campaigning to end the war to Reagan and Iran-Contra to George H.W. Bush’s no new taxes pledge to Bill Clinton’s infamous press conference about Monica. Trump lives a lie though, since he seems to view every time he opens his mouth as another opportunity for salesmanship and “puffery:”
Meeting (and then definitely) not meeting Putin on 60 Minutes. John Miller/Baron as his trusted PR person talking to reporters. His assurance in 2011 that his investigators in Hawaii tracking down Obama’s real origin “couldn’t believe what they were finding” and his promise to reveal all the dirty details soon. Trump’s own admission in a deposition for a lawsuit that his own estimate of his net worth fluctuates not based on facts and figures, assets or losses, but his own feelings any given day. That American muslims celebrated 9/11 that day by the thousands. Trump saying that it was well established that he was against the 2003 Iraq war from the beginning and that he foresaw that it would destabilize the Middle East.
His own supporters think his claim about building the wall isn’t real. Trump has no credibility. Clinton has a little.