As you’ve heard by now, Donald Trump is doing all he can to convince the American public he’s a serious political candidate. (And a not-insignificant number of people seemingly believe him.)
His main tactic? Saying outrageous things that are demonstrably false to stir up the Tea Party base.
A good summary of some such statements can be found over at PolitiFact. They’re a project run by the St. Petersburg Times that fact checks statements made by politicians or other public figures. Of the six statements made by Trump that they’ve evaluated since February, the best he’s scored is one “Half-True,” when it came to whether or not The Celebrity Apprentice was NBC’s number one show. (It was for the latest week when Trump was speaking, but not for the whole season.)
A few statements he’s made on public policy haven’t stood up – yes, South Korea does pay for U.S. military support, and yes, the U.S. does receive oil from Libya – but what he’s been called out for time and time again are the Birther myths he continues to spout. Which is such evasive bullshit on Trump’s part – all this continued “Where’s the birth certificate?” stuff makes all the “There’s a communist in the White House” stuff look reasoned by comparison, and only serves to dodge actually addressing what should be done with the nation instead.
Trump’s political success is a sad, sad thing. Props go to the folks at PolitiFact for taking the time to assess his tired nonsense.
(Also, it’s worth noting that Trump, who promised to release an official birth certificate, still hasn’t done so, instead giving the public this.)
