In-depth N.Y. Times analysis reveals pattern in all of Trump's speeches and outbursts

Published
2024/04/08 16:38 (EDT)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference

Donald Trump has a long and documented history of exaggerating the truth and even outright lying about everything from the border crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and what he says was mass voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Now, a study has revealed "a kind of technique to his dishonesty."

According to New York Times fact checker Angelo Fichera, the study analyzed all of Trump's public statements, including speeches, interviews and social media posts, in the week starting with Trump’s victory speech in Iowa through his win in the New Hampshire primary, which put him on the path to being the GOP's nominee for 2024.

And the newspaper exposed a pattern of reasoning behind each claim.

For example, Fichera cited a list of Trump statements and claims, giving its own fact check of Trump's words, starting with his claim at a New Hampshire rally earlier this year that President Joe Biden wants to "quadruple your taxes" with the "largest tax hike in American history."

But The Times points out that Biden "has not proposed quadrupling taxes. In fact, he has consistently vowed not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000."

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Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in January that Biden plans to implement an "all-electric" car "mandate" where Americans soon "won't be able to buy any other form of car." The Times says Biden has not implemented any kind of an electric car mandate, but has instead announced rules limiting emissions from cars and light trucks, only requiring automakers to produce more electric vehicles and hybrids.

Trump also tries to make his record more impressive than it actually is, one example being his claim during a Newsmax interview in January that there were no terrorist attacks during his time in the White House. But as The Times points out, there was one in 2017 when an ISIS-inspired native of Uzbekistan used a truck to mow down pedestrians on a bike path in Manhattan, killing eight people.

Trump also claimed he headed the "best economy" during his presidency, but The Times says the average growth rate was lower under Trump than under former Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. Trump also claimed there was "no inflation" during his tenure. but The Times clarifies that while inflation under Trump was low, it was not non-existent.

Then there's his endless claims of a "rigged" 2020 election at the hands of "radical-left Democrats." In it's response, The Times states the obvious: "The 2020 election was not rigged. Mr. Trump has uttered hundreds of inaccurate claims to support the false claim that it was — mischaracterizing voting processes, citing baseless cases of supposed fraud and sharing conspiracy theories about voting machines."

The conclusions the Times drew from its analysis were:

  • "He grossly distorts his opponents’ records and proposals to make them sound unreasonable."
  • "He exaggerates and twists the facts to make his record sound better than it is.'
  • "He relies on both well-worn and fresh claims of election rigging to suggest he can lose only if his opponents cheat."
  • "He has turned his criminal cases into a rallying cry, baselessly asserting that he is being persecuted by his successor."
  • "He makes unverifiable claims about what the world would have been like had he secured a second term."
  • "He describes the United States as a nation in ruins."

Read the full analysis over at The New York Times.

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