For United States President Donald Trump, it’s 22 untrue things a day. In his first 802 days in office, Mr. Trump has made 9,451 false or misleading claims, according to the Washington Post Fact Checker.
The number has steadily climbed from just under six lies a day in his first year in office.
This is hardly cause for celebration, especially as Tuesday this week was dubbed as International Fact-Checking Day.
CNN’s editor-at-large Chris Cilliza says lies are features, rather than bugs, in the Trump presidency. But Trump himself has taken the phrase “fake news” and fashioned it for his own purposes, using it to shoot down any item that is unfavorable to him.
Then again, Trump is not a rare animal. There’s plenty of the likes of him in many countries, even in our part of the world.
How many of our public officials, current and aspiring, can we say have absolute reverence for truth and honesty?
What we hear instead are unverified information and misleading statements that seek to capitalize on Filipinos’ accepting, non-critical mind.
After all, it appears that we simply want leaders who convey some sense of empathy with our plight and a desire to make our lives better—never mind if it’s an act they’re putting on. Alas, we are too poor at telling when people are lying to our face. If they are nice, or good looking, or have mass appeal, or have a prominent last name, we readily forgive them, too.
Fact-checking is an exercise that should not be there in the first place. Why can’t people trust the things that are being said to or shown them at face value, especially by those who purport to know better?
Alas, we’ve gone so low that fact-checking has become an actual profession.
Would it not be nice indeed if we can have a similar independent lie-counter here in the Philippines especially at this crucial time? Then again, even if we were faced with the numbers, would that even make a difference?
Telling the truth no matter how unsavory always trumps a feel-good lie. It gets worse when the lies in themselves are nonsensical, or designed to advance an interest.
What’s worse than lying? Knowing you are being lied to, and then applauding like a fool, anyway.
