Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani says ‘truth isn’t truth’

Donald Trump’s lawyer has claimed that “truth isn’t truth”, during an interview about when the US president would speak with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.

“When you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well, that's so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth,” Giuliani said.

“Truth is truth,” Chuck Todd, anchor of NBC’s Meet the Press replied.

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“No, no, it isn't truth,” Giuliani said. “Truth isn't truth.”

The Guardian says the phrase “might be said to sum up the spirit of the Trump era”, which has featured ongoing claims of “fake news” and Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway’s use of the term “alternative facts”.

The exchange came after Giuliani was asked about whether the Trump team had been stalling over when the US president may give testimony to the Mueller investigation.

“I’m not going to be rushed into having him testify so can he can be trapped into perjury,” Giuliani said.

CNN says that Trump’s legal team is opposed to the idea of Trump testifying before the Mueller probe because they believe “the special counsel's investigators could take what Trump says, if it differs from what others have laid out, as a lie”.