Republican lies come in 10 different flavors

There’s big lying, small lying, criminal lying, lying about lying, and more

Lying is a sacrament in the Church of MAGA, an affirmation of unquestioning loyalty. If you’re willing to debase yourself with outrageous dishonesty, welcome to the club.

During Trump’s first term, the president and his lackeys didn’t want to testify under oath because they might have faced perjury charges if they lied. Republicans called it a “perjury trap.” That’s as cynical as it gets: Being asked to tell the truth was a “trap.”

The news media can’t put Republicans under oath, so lying is safer. Corey Lewandowski, the “friend” of disgraced former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, was truthful about his falsehood in 2019, declaring: “I have no obligation to be honest with the media.”

I’m not suggesting that all Republicans lie alike. By my count, there are at least 10 different flavors.

1. Opposite lying

“I have some of the best poll numbers I’ve ever had,” Trump said after some of the worst poll numbers he’s ever had.

2. New-math lying

Trump’s impossible claim that he cut drug prices by 600% is a sign of mental instability. Yet some people laugh it off and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. even defended it. “President Trump has a different way of calculating percentages,” said RFK Jr. “There’s two ways of calculating percentages. If you have a $600 drug and you reduce it to $10, that’s a 600% reduction.” No… it’s… not.

3. Big lying

Trump and his media mouthpiece, Fox, spread the Big Lie that the 2020 election was rigged. Fox paid a $787 million settlement for its dishonesty, but Trump went unpunished. When the Big Lie fueled a coup attempt, we heard more ridiculous disinformation, such as Rep. Andrew Clyde calling the assault on the Capitol a “normal tourist visit” and Sen. Tom Cotton saying Trump’s actions were “core political activity at the heart of our democracy.”

4. Small lying

Some Trump dishonesty seems purely for amusement. He installed a plaque at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., reading: “Many great American soldiers, both of the North and South, died at this spot. The casualties were so great that the water would turn red and thus became known as ‘The River of Blood.’” That didn’t happen. Totally made up.

5. Criminal lying

Trump, who became a convicted felon because he falsified business records (another form of lying) to cover up his hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, likes to keep fellow liars around him. Dirty trickster Roger Stone was convicted of lying to Congress. Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI and then tried to withdraw that plea. Bernard Kerik, a Trump ally and former New York City police commissioner convicted of tax fraud and making false statements, spent three years in prison. Another Trump ally, former Rep. George Santos, was convicted of fraud and identity theft.

Trump gave clemency to all four. Stone, Flynn, and Kerik received pardons, while Santos got his sentence commuted, which wiped out court-ordered restitution for his victims.

6. Righteous lying

Sometimes Republicans admit they’re lying, but say they’re doing it for the greater good. JD Vance defended his hoax about Haitian migrants eating dogs and cats by saying, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

7. Know-nothing lying

When reporters ask House Speaker Mike Johnson about a controversy, he often claims to know nothing about it. If he was really that ignorant, he should be removed as speaker. Instead he’s blatantly lying… which means he should be removed as speaker.

8. Tag-team lying

On April 30, Sen. Tim Scott and Rep. Steve Scalise found two different ways to lie about the same thing.

Scott claimed: “Gas prices continue to come down.” In fact, the average price for regular gasoline on that date was $4.30 a gallon, up 27 cents from a week earlier and up $1.12 from a year earlier. Steve Scalise claimed that “two years ago, we were paying almost $6 a gallon. Right now it’s in the $3s.” Nope. It was $4.30 when Scalise said that, and two years earlier it was $3.65, not even close to $6.

When Republicans lie like this, there’s often a lack of media pushback, but after Scalise’s dishonesty, CNBC’s Joe Kernen called him out. In Scott’s case, however, Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo just ignored the lie and moved on.

9. Predictive lying

Before Trump’s election in 2024, transition co-chair Howard Lutnick denied that RFK Jr. would become Secretary of Health and Human Services. “He’s not going to be the secretary! No!” Lutnick said. Of course, RFK Jr. got the job. Lutnick also said Trump wouldn’t consider hiring people tied to Project 2025 because they were “radioactive.” Of course, Trump did hire them.

10. Lying about lying

Beware when Trump’s press secretaries promise to tell the truth.

Kayleigh McEnany pledged: “I will never lie to you.” Then she claimed falsely that the Mueller Report was “a complete and total exoneration of President Trump.” It wasn’t, of course.

Karoline Leavitt said: “I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day.” Then she claimed fraud fighter Trump stopped about $50 million from going “out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.” Separately, Trump said Hamas planned to use the condoms to build bombs. But the condoms were not for Hamas. They were for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases in a province of the African nation of Mozambique called Gaza – a totally different place than the Middle East version of Gaza.

That’s how Republicans roll.

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