# Should a president be held accountable for lying **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244 "2019-02-26T14:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/1 "2019-02-26T14:50:25Z")
It’s well known that Trump is a serial liar. His latest (Ivanka has created millions of jobs) got me wondering… A witness in court has to, under oath and at risk of legal retaliation, tell the truth. If an ordinary citizen under certain conditions be required to be honest, shouldn’t the president? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/2 "2019-02-26T15:15:27Z")
Define lies. Yeah, a lot of this crap that Trump spews qualifies as lies. On the other hand, sometimes you can’t tell the truth in the interest of national security. “Mr. President - we’ve heard rumors that you’re about to drop a mega-bomb on \ for \ - is that true?” It may well be true and a legitimate action, but must it be acknowledged before the fact? OK, maybe not a great example, but I hope I made the point. There are lies, then there are lies… I guess which are which depends on what side you’re on. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/3 "2019-02-26T15:19:22Z")
Define accountable. We (theoretically) have 3 co-equal branches of the federal government, and the impeachment process. It takes the political will of the other 2 branches to pursue and accountability. What have we seen so far? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/4 "2019-02-26T15:21:29Z")
Unless under oath, or the lies are somehow characterized as impeachable offenses, he is held accountable (or not) at the next election. As others noted, so much of politics concerns the presentation of information/arguments in a manner that folk who disagree might characterize as lies. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/5 "2019-02-26T15:23:57Z")
Ninjad ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/6 "2019-02-26T15:24:02Z")
Held accountable by whom? The press/news media? The citizens/voters? I’d say yes to both. And plenty of them have been trying. Unfortunately, there are too many others who don’t seem to care whether what the president says has any correlation with reality. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/7 "2019-02-26T15:25:49Z")
One could argue that he more talks in superlatives to make a point; that they aren’t lies so much as speech techniques. And while he may be a great example, our current POTUS isn’t unique in that. Under oath he has to tell the truth within the limits of national security but outside of that he’s just another politician. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/8 "2019-02-26T15:26:51Z")
You should ask Bill Clinton if a President testifying under oath should be held accountable if he lies. If you are suggesting that a President should be under penalty of perjury every time he speaks, then any President of any party would be impeached within six weeks of inauguration. Some within ten minutes. Or we could go on as we do now - if you think the President lies too much, you don’t vote for his re-election, or you try to convince a majority of the House and two-thirds of the Senate to impeach and remove him or her from office. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/9 "2019-02-26T16:53:24Z")
If under oath, yes. If not, no. I am not excusing the Cheeto-In-Chief, but he is a politician. As such, we expect a certain amount of dishonesty. As CIC, he HAS to tell us some lies sometimes. Not the level of bullshit we get NOW, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/10 "2019-02-26T17:02:02Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You should ask Bill Clinton if a President testifying under oath should be held accountable if he lies. He was, remember? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/11 "2019-02-26T17:15:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He was, remember? For the time he knowingly gave false testimony under oath, yes. If the standard is going to be that a President is under oath every time he speaks, Clinton is another who would not have made it ten minutes into his first term. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/12 "2019-02-26T17:17:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > For the time he knowingly gave false testimony under oath, yes. If the standard is going to be that a President is under oath every time he speaks, Clinton is another who would not have made it ten minutes into his first term. What President would? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/13 "2019-02-26T17:25:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > For the time he knowingly gave false testimony under oath, yes. If the standard is going to be that a President is under oath every time he speaks, Clinton is another who would not have made it ten minutes into his first term. Thank you for that wonderful trip back in time more than 20 years ago. Now, can you think of a much more recent example of a President who has a strenuous relationship with the truth? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/14 "2019-02-26T17:26:34Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He was, remember? OTOH, Richard Nixon wasn’t. In fact, he received a Presidential pardon. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Now, can you think of a much more recent example of a President who has a strenuous relationship with the truth? You mean, like George W. Bush and “weapons of mass destruction?” ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/15 "2019-02-26T18:01:32Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Thank you for that wonderful trip back in time more than 20 years ago. Now, can you think of a much more recent example of a President who has a strenuous relationship with the truth? I could go back 3 years, but few people here want to talk about it. Or admit it. Or believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/16 "2019-02-26T18:05:44Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > I could go back 3 years, but few people here want to talk about it. > > Or admit it. > > Or believe it. Or give a flying fuck about it. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/17 "2019-02-26T18:23:46Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > OTOH, Richard Nixon wasn’t. In fact, he received a Presidential pardon. . . . Well, he didn’t get to finish his term and Dr. Seuss wrote an admonishing book about him. So he was accounted a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/18 "2019-02-26T18:28:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Or give a flying fuck about it. So, you don’t give a flying fuck about a lying president. Why are you posting in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/19 "2019-02-26T18:32:44Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > So, you don’t give a flying fuck about a lying president. Why are you posting in this thread? Not what I said at all, but I’ll bite: What terrible, horrible thing did President Obama lie about that we are all afraid to mention? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244/20 "2019-02-26T18:51:27Z")
The normal process for holding Presidents, even Donald Trump, accountable should be through elections. Bad a President as Trump is, we shouldn’t be enacting laws to restrict him. Because those laws will then be used to restrict the actions of future competent Presidents. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-a-president-be-held-accountable-for-lying/830244.md?page=2)