Even before President Donald Trump entered the White House, he and his allies provided a constant barrage of misinformation to the American public — an effort that didn’t stop once in office. By six months into the presidency, the New York Times — which had been keeping an exhaustive list of his falsehoods — simply gave up on the effort, perhaps finding it just too difficult to stay current.
But now — nearly a year into Trump’s term — the administration continues to make misleading claims that support their policies. And to emphasize just how little they care about public perception at this point, officials are no longer even trying to offer evidence in support of their assertions.
For a team that has made touting falsehoods a constant in their governing, the idea that they should simply be trusted at their word is laughable — yet that’s exactly what they expect.
Earlier this week, in response to massive blowback from constituents over the new tax cut bill and its projected impact in adding to the national debt, the Treasury Department responded with a literal memo saying, “Don’t worry, the cuts will pay for themselves.”
Yet Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin didn’t provide much in the way of facts to back up the statement. And what little he did offer was easily refuted. The Washington Post reports:
Take your pick of independent analyses refuting Treasury’s conclusion, because all of them do. A new look from the Penn Wharton Budget Model on Monday found that even factoring in growth, the Senate bill adds $1.5 trillion to $1.8 trillion to the national debt over a decade. The outlet adds that, “37 of 38 economists across the ideological spectrum surveyed by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business agreed the bill will add to the debt substantially (the 38th misread the question).
And the tax cut debate isn’t the only issue prompting the Trump administration to make baseless claims. In an effort to end net neutrality, FCC Chair Ajit…