https://youtu.be/YGPzCTiHghA
Donald Trump’s “John Miller” alias saga won’t be over anytime soon. We’re still hearing denials from Trump that he ever impersonated his own fake spokesperson to spread dating rumors about himself. Even in the face of audio evidence, Trump lied his pants off. Then an interview (from 1991) surfaced to expose how he confessed to the whole charade, which he orchestrated — like a teenager making a crank call — at Marla Maples’ expense. Does Trump even realize he’s lying at this point, or is it second nature? That’s a real question and something that the American people should care about when electing a person as president.
On Monday’s episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers, the host questioned why the public doesn’t seem to notice that Trump’s pattern of lying is a big deal. Meyers understands why everyone finds this mess to be extremely hilarious, but he’d also like people to take the scandal seriously. Trump lied about those audio tapes, which sounded exactly like him, while claiming that he gets impersonated all the time by scam artists. Since the real-estate mogul is used to getting away with everything, he expects everyone to believe him. In this way, laughing and ignoring the seriousness of this issue works the same effect as belief. Meyers zeroes in on his main point:
“One, it often seems as though Trump can lie freely without consequence on the campaign trail. The fact-checking site Politifact has ruled a stunning 76 percent of Trump’s statements as ‘false, mostly false or pants on fire.’ Yet, somehow he eludes accountability. It’s a clear-cut case where you can hear the audio for yourself and know that Trump is lying. Second, John Miller is a fake persona manufactured by Trump to aggrandize himself in the eyes of the public, which is exactly what he’s doing now as a presidential candidate.”
The Politifact data that Meyers references is also no joke. The country is now divided between people who don’t care that Trump is lying and those wringing their hands over people not caring. The man who could become president isn’t held accountable now, so could we ever expect him to tell the truth after taking office? Our country has a presumptive Republican nominee who could go on to spout complete lies to world leaders, which is a very big deal. There’s actually an undercurrent of folks who wonder about Trump’s state of mind as he gleefully ignites controversies and half-truths. He either does so intentionally or not, but both could be equally dangerous, especially on matters of foreign policy.