From President Trump's very first presidential "alternative fact" about the size of his inaugural crowd to the 20,000th documented false or misleading claim he has made since then, according to the running tally by The Washington Post's fact-checker team, "total honesty" isn't typically a word associated with his presidency. But what if you looked at honesty not in terms of truth versus lies, but as a measure of being true to your own nature? That's the smart rhetorical shift first lady Melania Trump tried during her speech at Tuesday's Republican National Convention.
"We all know Donald Trump makes no secrets about how he feels about things," the first lady said from the White House Rose Garden. "Total honesty is what we, as citizens, deserve from our president. Whether you like it or not, you always know what he's thinking. And that is because he is an authentic person who loves this country and its people."
Melania Trump's speech was written by a senior aide and wasn't vetted by the White House political staff, according to her spokeswoman, former Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham.
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.
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
