Washington Post fact-checker says Trump has ‘now hit 10,000’ lies as president
Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler on Monday said that President Trump has now eclipsed the 10,000 lie mark during his tenure in the White House.
“He’s now hit 10,000,” Kessler said Monday in an appearance on CNN. “That’s an average of about 23 false or misleading claims a day in the last seven months.”
{mosads}Kessler has been tracking Trump’s falsehoods since his inauguration and applies “Pinocchios” on a sliding scale from one to four depending on the severity of the lie.
Kessler noted that Trump’s rate of saying false or misleading statements has picked up recently, alleging the president had made 171 such statements in the previous three days.
“The President continues to say false or misleading statements at an unbelievable pace,” Kessler said.
“The President continues to say false or misleading statements at an unbelievable pace,” says the Washington Post’s @GlennKesslerWP.
“He’s now hit 10,000. That’s an average of about 23 false or misleading claims a day in the last seven months.” https://t.co/GUo5m6gEGv pic.twitter.com/VZPt0BRfCq
— New Day (@NewDay) April 29, 2019
Kessler alleges Trump made 45 false claims Thursday during an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity and another 61 false claims during a campaign rally in Wisconsin Saturday that Trump attended instead of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Kessler also noted that Trump has some false claims he repeats more than others, notably that the wall is being built along the U.S.-Mexico border and that he passed the biggest tax cut in the history of America.
According to Kessler, Trump has averaged more than 12 false claims per day since taking office, totaling more than 10,000 in his 828 days in office to this point.
Trump has waged war on fact-checkers, slamming them as “some of the most dishonest people in media,” in addition to his consistent attacks calling media coverage he sees as unfavorable “fake news.”
Late last year, Kessler and The Washington Post implemented the “Bottomless Pinocchio,” an acknowledgment that four Pinocchios was sometimes not enough, saying the new rating was inspired by Trump’s repeating false claims.
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