By Tom Burke / Herald columnist
Donald Trump was a liar. Over 30,000 times during his tenure in the White House he outright lied or significantly distorted facts. And Republicans defended him the whole time.
Now it was hoped, with Trump out of the White House, the Republican lying would stop. That “regular order” would be observed. That truth and objective facts would return to politics. It hasn’t. It’s gotten worse.
So for those not keeping up with Republican lies, here’s a list of the demonstratively disprovable falsehoods poisoning our political discourse and warping the decision matrix in America today. (Note: Nothing “Trumpish” here; adding his latest lies would exhaust my word budget.)
So, gentle reader, understand the following are not true; they are lies:
• The IRS is hiring 87,000 agents to go after middle- and low-income taxpayers.
• The border is wide open.
• Trump won.
• Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake won.
• Critical race theory is being taught in schools.
• Ashli Babbitt was murdered.
• The Jan. 6, 2021 insurrectionists were “just tourists.”
• The United States is a Christian nation.
• The FBI led the Jan. 6 insurrection.
• Covid is hoax. Vaccines don’t work and will kill you.
• Congress should raise the retirement age because everyone wants to work longer.
• Climate change is a hoax.
• There is a deep state.
• Woke liberals are teaching children to hate America; and that America is a racist, evil country.
• Rep. Adam Schiff openly and repeatedly lied to the American people.
• The press is the enemy of the people.
• Teachers are “grooming” students.
• The government is coming for your guns.
• Kitty litter boxes are being placed in schools for kids who identify as cats.
• People who get covid shots are more likely to get infected with covid.
• “Lying for the Lord” is perfectly OK.
• The Republicans’ claim that the “Fair Tax Act” — imposing a 30 percent national sales tax on everything we buy — is fair.
• Blocking an increase in the debt ceiling is about cutting wasteful spending.
• Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway (Diamond & Silk) died from the covid vaccine. (She died of heart disease caused by chronic high blood pressure.)
• Trump tax cuts helped the middle class.
• Nancy Pelosi committed treason and should be executed.
• Crime is rising because Democrats are soft on crime.
• Biden caused inflation.
• Microsoft’s Xbox is “going after the kids,” to make them “woke about climate change” after Microsoft introduced a new model with a power-saving mode.
• Regarding classified documents: Mike Pence did nothing wrong. Trump was treated unfairly. Biden’s actions are a national security threat. The FBI has been weaponized against Trump and is engaged in a coverup for Biden.”
• The Democrats cut $280 billion out of Medicare. (They actually saved taxpayers $280 billion by negotiating prices on medications for Medicare patients.)
• The December 2022 jobs report, in which the unemployment rate tied a 53-year low, is, “the worst … in a long line of terrible jobs reports” and proof of Biden’s failure.
• In addition to gas stoves, liberals now want to regulate/ban hot water heaters, ceiling fans, furnaces, dishwashers, and microwaves.
There’s more. A lot more. Lies about Hunter Biden’s laptop; the history of the United States, especially concerning slavery, racism and treatment of Native Americans; Ukraine; elections; 9/11; school shootings; California wildfires and Jewish space lasers; Democratic sex trafficking; and, and, and … .
And the liars are not just the usual suspects — Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar, Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik, Kari Lake, Rick Scott, Jim Jordan, Ron DeSantis, Matt Gaetz, et. al.; it’s almost the entire top-to-bottom Republican/MAGA/Trump cult (as evidenced by their continued promulgation of, say, “The Big Lie”) churning out fabrication after fabrication.
Oh, big deal! thinks you. All politicians lie.
Actually, they don’t. And they didn’t used to. Not like the current-day Republicanss.
Because lying used to have consequences. At least when you got caught.
No more. Now, if you don’t 100 percent buy in and actively espouse the MAGA-cult lies, you ain’t a good Republican and your political career is doomed.
What is truly pernicious about the MAGA-R lying is its effect on voters, especially low-information, “I just read the headlines/quotes” voters. Because for those not paying attention, lies like “Ashli Babbit was murdered” become facts (or at least doubts) and they warp the very basis of our democracy. It’s not just the blatant venality of the liars that’s dangerous, or the audacity of claims that are so easily disproved, it’s the actions they take based on those lies that stabs the rest of us in the back.
The operative MAGA-R mantra is: Admit nothing. Never apologize. Raise the stakes by attacking allegations as a “witch hunt.” List “lies” told by Democrats (ie. Trump lost). Change the subject.
The current poster-boy of Republican lying is Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. But I am confident justice will catch up with him.
What I fear more than Santos is two years of a do-nothing MAGA-R House of Representatives, wasting our time and spinning wheels with “investigations” to prove the lies they’ve been lying about, ain’t.
But here’s something to consider: Recent polling shows 73 percent of Americans are unhappy with House Republicans, for not prioritizing important issues; 73 percent!
And that’s no lie.
Slava Ukraini.
Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.
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