Trump’s Most Inconsequential Lie Is Also The Most Telling
Intern, ThinkProgress
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is constantly being fact-checked for his wildly inaccurate statements, from his claim that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the 9/11 attacks to his statement that the Mexican government sends “the bad ones” over the border.
Still, many of his false statements fly under the radar.
Last night on the O’Reilly Factor, Trump suggested he played a role in choosing the location for the 2016 Republican National Convention. “I wanted it to be here. And, we had lots of choices,” he said. “I wanted it to be in Ohio. I recommended Ohio.”
In reality, the Republican National Committee’s site selection committee chose Cleveland for the convention back in 2014, without any input from Trump. At that time, the businessman was busy ruminating over whether or not he should own the Buffalo Bills.
Trump had absolutely no reason to lie about his role in the selection of Cleveland as the site of the Republican convention. There was no reason for him to be involved and the fact that he was not involved is completely inconsequential.
But Trump chose to lie about it anyway and that’s important in understanding Trump’s relationship with the truth.
Trump doesn’t lie because he’s a political candidate seeking to score a political advantage. Presented with any topic, he imputes a narrative that inflates his importance and abilities. He uses this approach whether he’s talking about nuclear weapons or the taco bowls at Trump Tower.
***
Reposted from Think Progress.
