Is it irresponsible for media to keep repeating Trump’s lies?
Dec 15, 2017, 7:40 AM
Everyone in a position of authority lies from time to time. Parents lie to their children: “If you swallow that seed a watermelon will grow in your stomach; if you keep making that ugly face, it’ll will freeze that way!” That one turned out to be true, in my case.
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Bosses lie to their employees: “The company has been sold, but there will be no immediate changes.” Then you show up Monday and everyone you knew is gone.
And, yes, even politicians lie sometimes because it works. But according to a list published in the New York Times, President Trump has taken it to a whole new level.
In his first ten months, the Times counted 103 unique and provable lies, Which is 5.7 times the number President Obama told in eight years.
Now, many of these lies involved bragging; biggest crowd ever, most appearances on the cover of Time magazine. Others were just flat wrong: NATO doesn’t fight terrorism, half of Tennessee has no health insurance, I never heard of Wikileaks.
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I know he can’t help it; it’s part of his charm. But in that case, we have to ask, is it responsible for the news media to keep broadcasting what he says? Objectively speaking, he is probably the most unreliable source we quote on a regular basis.
I can’t imagine any reporter who would quote any source who’s wrong as often as Donald Trump is. Shouldn’t we just broadcast the true stuff and bleep the rest?
I know you’ll say, Dave, he’s the President, you have to quote him. But isn’t it a little like quoting the guy who walks along skid row involuntarily swearing? It seems almost cruel.