The rate at which President Trump makes false or misleading statements continues to rise — especially when he gets on the phone with Sean Hannity.
Trump has now made more than 10,000 false or misleading claims during his presidency, The Washington Post's fact checker said on Monday. This unfortunate milestone comes after a particularly prolific week for Trump: During a 45-minute interview with Hannity on April 25, he racked up 45 false or misleading claims. This was the conversation during which Trump said, among other things, that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation was "an attempted overthrow of the United States government."
In fact, in just three days last week, from April 25 to April 27, Trump totaled 171 mistruths, the Post says. This fast pace seems to even be surprising the fact checkers, who note that Trump in the first 100 days of his presidency was making fewer than five false or misleading claims per day. By September 2018, he was at eight claims per day. But since September, his average has been 23 a day. Trump took 601 days to hit 5,000 claims, but in the seven months since then, he's already doubled that.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The fact that the 2018 midterm elections came during that stretch of time is certainly a factor, as is the release of Mueller's report. The Post's Glenn Kessler noted on CNN that Trump continues to insist, for instance, that Mueller cleared him of obstruction when actually the report outlined instances of potential obstruction and did not exonerate him.
With the 2020 presidential election fast approaching, don't be surprised if even these numbers seem downright quaint in a year's time.
-
The ‘menopause gold rush’Under the Radar Women vulnerable to misinformation and marketing of ‘unregulated’ products
-
Voting Rights Act: SCOTUS’s pivotal decisionFeature A Supreme Court ruling against the Voting Rights Act could allow Republicans to redraw districts and solidify control of the House
-
No Kings rally: What did it achieve?Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
-
No Kings rally: What did it achieve?
Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
-
Push for Ukraine ceasefire collapsesFeature Talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were called off after the Russian president refused to compromise on his demands
-
Trump eyes regime change in VenezuelaFeature Officials believe Trump’s ‘war on narco-terrorism’ is actually a push to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
‘Social media is the new tabloid’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How are ICE’s recruitment woes complicating Trump’s immigration agenda?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Lowered training standards and ‘athletically allergic’ hopefuls are hindering the White House plan to turn the Department of Homeland Security into a federal police force
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
Donald Trump’s week in Asia: can he shift power away from China?Today's Big Question US president’s whirlwind week of diplomacy aims to bolster economic ties and de-escalate trade war with China
-
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s rebellion: Maga hardliner turns on TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
