Lies of the Right the President and Others Told Me

We all know, or certainly should know, that Donald Trump has a truth problem. Rather than dissect the spate of recent miserable policy outrages, I’ve taken the easy way out and am simply addressing some of the flood of lies coming from GOP talking heads, primarily but not exclusively the Grand Cheeto himself.   

 The lie: Trump: "All armed services are having among the best recruiting results ever” because of Trump policies, and “it was just a few months ago where the results were exactly the opposite.”

Fact:  Armed services recruitment rose from 200,000 in fiscal year 2023 to 225,000 in fiscal year 2024, a 12.5% increase, under the Biden administration.

 The Lie: Rick Scott, March 9:  "Well, first off, Donald Trump walked in with a crappy economy. The number of full-time jobs has been dropping almost the entire Biden administration."

The Truth: Under the Biden administration full-time jobs increased through that tenure. Part-time jobs also increased, driven by people who wanted to work part-time. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that the number of jobs rose from 125.2 million in January 2021, to 133.5 million in December 2024 an increase of 8.3 million jobs, or about 6.6%, over four years.

The Lie: Donald Trump stated on January 20, 2025, that: “The United States is the only country with unrestricted birthright citizenship.”

The Truth: There are about three dozen countries that have unrestricted birthright citizenship, also known as "jus soli," or "right of the soil." In this group, The U.S. is joined by neighbors Canada and Mexico, along with nearly every country in Central and South America.

The Lie: Trump: “Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again. And it’s happening. And it will happen rather quickly. There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re OK with that. It won’t be much.”

The Truth: Most economists say Trump’s tariffs would hurt the country, as they are, in essence, tax increases that could raise the costs of goods in ways that could also harm economic growth. We are only beginning to see the effects of these ill-chosen tariff actions and it will likely only get worse. When the Yale University Budget Lab looked at the tariffs that Trump imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China, it found that inflation would increase a full percentage point, growth would fall by half a percentage point and the average household would lose about $1,600 in disposable income.

The Lie: Trump said: “We ended the last administration’s insane electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto workers and companies from economic destruction.”

The Truth: The was no “mandate,” simply a stated goal. No legislation. Period.

The Lie: In his State of the Union message Trump said: “We’re going to have growth in the auto industry like nobody’s ever seen. Plants are opening up all over the place. Deals are being made, never seen. (sic)”

 The Truth: No US automaker has announced a new plant since Trump took office and began instituting new tariffs. What is far more likely to spur US auto sales is the fact that Trump’s move to impose a 25% tariff on all imports coming into the United States from Canada and Mexico could add thousands of dollars to the cost of each new imported vehicle. (That said, Honda, Hyundai, Toyota. Subaru and Nissan already manufacture in the USA.

The Lie: Same SOU address: Trump said: “As an example, not long ago, and you can’t even believe these numbers, 1 in 10,000 children had autism. One in 10,000, and now it’s 1 in 36. There’s something wrong. One in 36, think of that, so we’re going to find out what it is.” (Of course, his moronic HHS appointee thinks he already knows)

The Truth:  the science is clear that vaccines don’t cause autism. Period. Actual research, on the other hand suggests that much of the increase is due to increasing awareness and screening for the condition. Also There have been changing definitions widening the scope of autism to include milder conditions now “on the spectrum” that weren’t recognized in previous years, coupled with advances in diagnostic technology.

The Lie: Trump press secretary, Karoline Leavitt to an Associated Press questioner: “He's (Trump) actually not implementing tax hikes. Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that, again, have been ripping us off. Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people (????), and the president is a staunch advocate for tax cuts.' The AP questioner fought back against Leavitt's claim by asking if she has ever paid a tariff, saying that 'They don't get charged on foreign companies they get charged on importers.' Leavitt responded: 'I think it's insulting that you're trying to test my knowledge of economics, and the decision that this president has made. I now regret giving a question to The Associated Press.'

 

And that’s about all I can stomach for today!