[FRIAM] Trump, truth, and politics: Why do we still think Trump is acting with respect to the truth?

[Marcus Daniels]

Eric writes:

“Are we really going to get four years of the media trying to treat everything Trumps says as if it is a factual claim he deeply believes?”

It is relevant if his supporters believe his actions come from core values that are in line with theirs.   Is his drama `hyperbole truth’ (that to them is benign) or is it there a pattern of lying that will eventually falsify that belief and show him to be something other than what they thought?   For example, if they came to believe he and his administration has contempt for them like they believe Mrs. Clinton and her band of elites do.   It seems to me his constant uninhibited contradictions and incomplete ideas are appealing to some: It makes them feel ok about their own behavior and reckon “Hey, he’s just a [pig of a] guy like me.”  That said, sure, it is naïve to think that his fanatical supporters could be persuaded anyway (and the people reading their newspapers probably already are), so why get all spun-up about it?

I think it is better is the media collectively develops a storyline about him.   That is what worked for him, that he could lock in minds around a story, even if it was false.   For example, explain why did he invent and persist with the birther thing?   (Because he knew there was a racist audience that could be manipulated.)   The media should integrate a lot of sources of context into a coherent picture of this man, and not just fire off these fact on-offs that come across like cheap shots to his sympathizers.   What, if any, long-term motives does he have, and how are his current and historical actions and statements consistent with those motives?  Not what it is, but what it means.   Doing this with evidence and repeated examples is what makes this reporting and not just editorializing.

Marcus





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