President Trump recently defended his well-documented penchant for exaggeration and making false claims, commenting, “When I can, I tell the truth.”
President Trump recently defended his well-documented penchant for exaggeration and making false claims, commenting, "When I can, I tell the truth." He said in a Wednesday interview with ABC News, "Well, I try. I always want to tell the truth. When I can, I tell the truth. And sometimes it turns out to be where something happens that's different or there's a change, but I always like to be truthful." Trump specifically commented on the size of the migrant caravan making its way to the U.S.-Mexico border, asserting, "You have caravans coming up that look a lot larger than it's reported actually. I'm pretty good at estimating crowd size. And I'll tell you they look a lot bigger than people would think." Notably, crowd size has been a particular focus throughout the Trump presidency, which began with Trump reportedly ordering then-Press Secretary Sean Spicer to falsely insist his inauguration was "the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe." In the time since, the Washington Post has kept track of his misleading claims and amassed a list of more than 5,000 of them. Among Trump's more recent deviations from the truth was his claim that a tax cut would be passed before the midterm elections, notes the Guardian. Former President Barack Obama pointed out during a rally held about a week ago that "Congress isn't even in session before the election. He just makes it up."
