https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/opinion/trump-lies-charts-data.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9k0.VPn8.ArfIC_ewR8u5&smid=url-share
A demonstration of the many ways the ex-president bends the truth, in charts.
Articles like this fundamentally misunderstand where so much of Trump's support comes from. Supporters don't like like him because they think he's telling the truth. They claim he's telling the truth because they like him. Weighing evidence is not what drove them to support him and piling more evidence on the other other side of the scale isn't going to drive them away. The judgement comes first, the rationale second.
They're in it for the vibe. They like that he pisses people off; that he is apparently accountable to no one; that he treats people like dirt if it's convenient for him; that he lies whenever he wants. To Trump's base these actions are the hallmark of power and charisma. He is the kind of person they wish they had the courage to be, at least sometimes.
He is a classic archetype: the heel. If you want to beat him, then he must be made to look weak and pathetic. He has to be humiliated in a way that that his supporters cannot ignore. Fact-checking him is never going to be enough.
Yeah, I wish the New York Times would spend less money on opinion writers, fancy graphics, and word games, and more on journalism. Their opinion section has been wild lately.
You’re right that facts won’t matter to Trump’s supporters, but I do think it’s still worth documenting all his lies for posterity. Somebody should do it, but it shouldn’t be in an opinion piece, and it doesn’t need the fanfare of a fancy animation, because like you said his lying and lack of accountability are part of why his followers like him, and pieces like this will fall on mostly deaf ears at this point.
The real fuck of it is, they did all this with Hitler, but here we are anyway. Documenting this, which is valuable to be certain, is just going to give future historians more anxiety about the past they are doomed to watch repeat.
Articles like this fundamentally misunderstand where so much of Trump’s support comes from.
the article (or rather its author) does understand that.
it is you who fundamentally don't understand the goal of the article - it is not to convince maga voters. i mean it would be great if it swayed at least some of them, but the primary goal is to provide facts for the people who want them.
Seems like a peculiar choice to direct that title to people who were never going to take his word for it to begin with.
I'd like to hold myself above all of this. But...
They like that he pisses people off
If Kamala pisses off people on the right by being a black woman, their tears will be fucking delicious. That's not why I support her, but I'm not going to deny myself a base pleasure now and again.
You gotta be a fucktard (i.e., republican) to believe anything coming from that shitcunt traitor.
Right??? I genuinely don’t get the point of these navel-gazey articles trying to dissect why racists and religious extremists like the authoritarian whitesupremacist populist. It’s not rocket science. It’s very obvious what’s going on and why.
I genuinely don’t get the point of these navel-gazey articles trying to dissect why racists and religious extremists like the authoritarian whitesupremacist populist.
The article doesn't do anything of the kind. It simply points out his lies and supplies the facts on those topics. This article simply provides information that can be used to voters who are not part of his cult but may not understand the depths of his deception.