CNN host Brian Stelter: Trump is a ‘well-documented’ liar

CNN host Brian Stelter on Sunday criticized President Trump, calling him a liar and saying his lies have been well-documented.

“President Trump is the leader of the United States. He is also a liar,” Stelter said on his show, “Reliable Sources.”

“This has been well-documented. Lying was a big part of his business strategy — he called it ‘truthful hyperbole.’ Now, as commander in chief, he misleads the public constantly.”

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Stelter addressed public criticism that news outlets have been loath to call Trump a “liar” or use the word “lie” to characterize his falsehoods.

“I understand why many of you want news outlets to use the ‘L-word,’ ‘lie,’ more often. You want us to affirm what we all see: that Trump has a truth problem,” he said. “You [the public] want us to recognize that it’s damaging the country and you want us to rethink how we do our jobs as a result.”

Stelter went on to question whether on-air reporters should read the president’s tweets aloud — something MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace stopped doing during a report on Friday.

“I’m not reading any more of this,” Wallace said with a laugh on-air Friday. “These are boldface lies and as his audacity and his sort of fantasies expand, I wonder what role you think the truth plays in this for any of them.”

Wallace had been in the middle of reading a series of Trump’s tweets in which he again attacked the FBI’s alleged use of an informant during his campaign, suggesting the agency used a spy to monitor his team improperly before it began its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.