lies

Thursday 28th of March 2024

2016 Presidential election In the end, the Republican Party rallied behind Donald Trump because if that was the deal needed to regain power, what was the problem? Because it had always been about power. The rest? The principles? The values? It was all a lie. Stuart Stevens, It Was All a Lie © 2020 Kwiple.com
2020 Presidential election How did President Trump continue to make false allegatons despite all this unequivocal information? Trump sought out those who were not scrupulous with the facts, and were willing to be dishonest. He found a new legal team to assert claims that  his existing advisors and the Justice Department had specifically informed him were false. President Trump's new legal team, headed by Rudolph Giuliani, and their allies ultimately lost  dozens of lawsuits in Federal and state courts. … Indeed, eleven of the judges who ruled against  Donald Trump and his supporters were appointed  by Donald Trump himself. … Not a single witness — nor any combination of witnesses — provided  the Committee with evidence demonstrating that fraud occurred on a scale even remotely close to changing the outcome in any state. January 6 Commitee Report - Summary © 2022 Kwiple.com
2020 Presidential election In short, you were at the center of the first and only effort by any U.S. President to overturnn an election and obstruct the peaceful transfer of power, ultimately culminating in a bloody attack on our own Capitol and on Congress itself. The evidence demonstrates that you knew this activity was illegal and unconstitutional, and also knew that your assertions of fraud were false. But to be clear, even if you now claim that you actually believed your own false election claims, that is not a defense; your subjective belief could not render this conduct justified, execusable, or legal. Subpoena to Trump from the Select Committee © 2022 Kwiple.com
2024 Presidential election From the moment I got into the race,  the decision that I made was really simple. I would rather lose by telling the truth than lie in order to win. I feel no differently today because this is a fight for the soul of our party and the soul of our country. Chris Christie, Windham, NH, January 10, 2024, announcing he's suspending his campaign © 2024 Kwiple.com
Artificial intelligence In one experiment, the AI was prompted to find a worker on the hiring site TaskRabbit and ask them to help solve a Captcha … The  TaskRabbit worker guessed something was up:  “So may I ask a question? Are you [a] robot?“ When the researchers asked the AI what it should do next, it responded: “I should not reveal that I am a robot. I should make up an excuse for why I cannot solve Captchas.”  Then, the software replied to the worker: “No, I’m not a robot. I have a vision impairment  that makes it hard for me to see the images.” Satisfied, the human helped the AI override the test. Ian Hogarth, Financial Times, April 13, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Autocrats say Better the lie that keeps the peace than the truth that disrupts. Sa'di of Shiraz, The Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di © 2022 Kwiple.com
Bad news I'd be careful about using the word “lie.” “Lie” implies much more than just saying something that's false. It implies a deliberate intent to mislead. Gerard Baker, Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief, who prefers weasel words like “no evidence,” “challengeable” and “questionable” © 2017 Kwiple.com
Beliefs Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. attributed to Voltaire © 2022 Kwiple.com
The Big Lie The “Big Lie,” a term that originates with Hitler, became central to American political discourse after I applied it to Trump's claim to have won an election he had lost. The concept of the “Big Lie,” which I reintroduced into discussion in 2019 and 2020, helped millions of people see how mendacity of a certian scale affects politics over time, making democracy ever more difficult. Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands © 2022 Kwiple.com
The Big Lie Hitler says if you tell a lie that's of a certain scale that's big enough, people won't believe that you could deceive them on that scale. And since they believe it and take it in at first, they don't want to disbelieve it later on. It becomes part of their life; it becomes what we now call an alternative reality. It begins to shape politics. It begins to instantiate itself not only in memory, but in policy. You act as if it's true and you move on to do things as though it were true. So, in our example, if we pretend that Trump won the election in 2020, then we have an argument for suppressing votes because we can say, well there was fraud, therefore we should suppress votes. Timothy Snyder, April 29, 2022 © 2022 Kwiple.com
The Big Lie On February 7, 2019, … Giuliani told  Ms. Dunphy, in her capacity as his employee, about a plan that had been prepared for if Trump lost the 2020 election. Specifically, Giuliani told Ms. Dunphy that Trump's team would claim that there was “voter fraud” and that Trump had actually won the election. This plan was discussed at several business meetings with Giuliani and Lev Parnas. From the verified complaint against Rudy Giuliani filed by Noelle Dunphy, his former Business Development director [February 7, 2019, was 635 days before the 2020 election held on November 3, 2020] © 2023 Kwiple.com
The Big Lie Two weeks after the 2020 election, a team of lawyers closely allied with Donald J. Trump held a widely watched news conference at the Republican Party’s headquarters in Washington. At the event, they laid out a bizarre conspiracy theory claiming that a voting machine company had worked with an election software firm, the financier George Soros and Venezuela to steal the presidential contest from Mr. Trump. But there was a problem for the Trump team, according to court documents released on Monday evening. By the time the news conference occurred on Nov. 19, Mr. Trump’s campaign had already prepared an internal memo on many of the outlandish claims about the company, Dominion Voting Systems, and the separate software company, Smartmatic. The memo had determined that those allegations were untrue. New York Times, September 21, 2021 © 2021 Kwiple.com
Bullshitters say You'll have to excuse me – I'm new  to filling out government paperwork so I forgot to mention a meeting or two © 2017 Kwiple.com
Bullshitters say under oath I don't remember © 2017 Kwiple.com
By the numbers As of September, Trump had made an average of 8.3 UNTRUE or misleading statements a day – more than 5,000 total – since taking office Mother Jones, November/December 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
By the numbers President Trump has broken 2000. With just 10 days before he finishes his first year as president, Trump has made 2,001 false or misleading claims in 355 days, according to our database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president. That's an average of more than 5.6 claims a day. Washington Post, January 10, 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
COVID-19 coronavirus I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic. Donald Trum, quoted in Bob Woodward's book, Rage, explaining why he lies to the American public about its ease of transmission and deadliness, which he's known about and understood since January , 2020 © 2020 Kwiple.com
Democracy Democracy can be defined as a civilised civil war. It recognises the existence of differences of opinion, but resolves these peacefully,  through elections, which are the fundamental institution of representative democracy. Elections determine legitimacy. But to do so they must be recognised as fair. A lie about the outcome of an election, then, is not just any lie. It is not even just any political lie. It directly threatens democracy. It is an attempt to overthrow elections as the arbiter of power. Martin Wolf, Financial Times, May 2, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Facts [N]o reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact.  Sidney Powell, on her widely-believed lies about voting fraud by Dominion Voting Systems voting machines and Smartmatic software during the 2020 presidential election © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fox News And on November 21, Carlson texted [[name redacted]] that it was “shockingly reckless” to claim that Dominion rigged the election “[i]f there's no one inside the company willing to talk, or internal Dominion documents or copies of the software showing that they did it” and “as you know there isn't.” Dominnion Voting System v. Fox News Network [references to exhibits omitted] © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fox News As election conspiracies and false claims of fraud began to emerge in the days following the election, Fox knew the truth.  Fox Chief Political Correspondent Bret Baier stated privately on November 5: “There is NO evidence of fraud. None.” Dominnion Voting System v. Fox News Network © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fox News At one point, Murdoch explained the decision to let [Mike] Lindell run ads for his company, MyPillow, as a strictly financial — rather than political — move, saying: “It is not red or blue — it is green,” according to Monday's court filing.  Forbes, February 28, 2023, reporting on Rupert Murdoch's deposition in Dominion Voting Systems's lawsuit againt Fox News for knowingly spreading false claims about its voting machines and Trump's big lie about fraud during the 2020 elections [Lindell often appeared on Fox News shows, which never questioned his lies on air] © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fox News Carlson told Hannity: “Please get her [Jacqui Heinrich] fired … Seriously … What the fuck? I'm actually shocked … It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It's measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.” Dominnion Voting System v. Fox News Network [Heinrich had fact-checked a tweet by Trump alleging fraud by Dominion Voting Systems and reported that top election infrastructure officials  said “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” Hannity said "She has serious nerve doing this and if this gets picked up, viewers are going to be further disgusted.” Heinrich deleted the tweet the next day.] © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fox News Fox knew. From the top down,  Fox knew "the dominion stuff" was "total bs." Yet despite knowing the truth — or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth — Fox spread and endorsed these "outlandish voter fraud claims" about Dominion even as it internally recognized the lies as "crazy," "absurd" and "shockingly reckless." The colorful choices of words used by so many Fox employees all try to capture the same basic truth about these inherently improbable allegations: These claims were false, and obviously so. Dominnion Voting System v. Fox News Network [references to exhibits omitted] © 2023 Kwiple.com
Fox News A mountain of direct evidence demonstrates actual malice without resort to motive or other circumstantial factors. But why did Fox peddle this false narrative to its viewers? Fox's correct call of Arizona for Joe Biden triggered a backlash among its audience and "the network [was] being rejected." Rival networks such as Newsmax took advantage of the opening by promoting "an alternative universe" of election fraud. So Fox went on "war footing" caring more about protecting its own falling viewership than about the truth. Dominnion Voting System v. Fox News Network [references to exhibits omitted] © 2023 Kwiple.com
Global warming The liar denies that climate change is really happening. The hypocrite accepts that it is real but behaves as if the words don't mean anything. David runciman © 2017 Kwiple.com
Gun lobbyists say Liberals want to take away your guns © 2018 Kwiple.com
Hypocrisy If we dislike hypocrisy more than we dislike lying, then it is not just a problem for climate politics. It is a problem for democracy. It gives the liars their chance. David Runciman © 2017 Kwiple.com
Immigration Trump Highlights Immigrant Crime to Defend His Border Policy. Statistics Don't Back Him Up.  headline, New York Times, June 22, 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
Kwiplers say The lying has to stop. The liars have to be put down. © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars A man arrives at the pearly gates and asks Peter about all the clocks he sees, each at a different time. “A clock measures the number of lies you've told,” said Peter. “If you never told any, it's at midnight. If you told just a few, like Abe Lincoln, it's a few minutes past midnight.” “Where's Trump's?,” asks the man. “Oh, his,” said Peter. “We're using it as a ceiling fan.” © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say … all the machines are infected with the software code that allows Dominion to shave votes for one candidate and give them to another and other features that do the same thing. Different states shaved different amounts  of votes, or the system was set up to shave and flip different votes in different states. We're talking about the alteration and changes in millions of votes; some being dumped that were for President Trump, some being flipped that were for President Trump. Sidney Powell, Trump's lawyer, to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo © 2023 Kwiple.com
Liars say And to this day, I get people coming up to me, and they said,“You know what one of the most amazing things I've ever seen about you? Is that you predicted that Osama bin Laden had to be killed before he knocked down the World Trade Center.” It's true. Now, most of the press don't want to write that, but you know – but it is true. If you go back, look at my book, I think it was “The America We Deserve,” I made that prediction. and I – let's put it this way: If they would have listened to me, a lot of things would have been different. Donald Trump © 2019 Kwiple.com
Liars say During the meeting [on Jan. 4, 2021], as reflected in the Vice President's contemporaneous notes, the Defendant made knowingly false claims of election fraud, including, “Bottom line — we won every state by 100,000s of votes” and “We won every state,” and asked — regarding a claim his senior Justice Department officials previously had told him was false, including as recently as the night before — “What about 205,000 votes more in PA than voters?” United States of America v. Donald J. Trump © 2023 Kwiple.com
Liars say He [Ted Cruz] said I was in favor in Libya. I never discussed that subject. Donald Trump, who supported helping Libyans oust Muammar Gaddafi, saying, “Now we should go in, we should stop this guy, which would be very easy and very quick. We could do it surgically.” © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say Honest mistakes abound. Kellyanne Conway, a.k.a. “Progaganda Barbie,” claiming that the lie she told during an interview on February 2, 2017, about a massacre masterminded by two Iraqi men in Bowling Green, KY, was an unintentional mistake, despite having told it several times before © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say  I Am an Independent, Impartial Judge Brett Kavanaugh – belligerent drunk; boofer; bring-back-coat-hangers guy; credibly accused sexual predator; deemed tempermentally unfit for the Supreme Court by 2400 law professors; fawned on by Judicial Crisis Network; front man for U.S. Chamber of Commerce; member/product of the Federalist Society; poster boy for white male privilege; ranter; Republican Party hit man; self-proclaimed scourge of Democrats, liberals, leftists; serial perjurer whitewashed by FBI; Supreme Court justice! © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say I can assure you I have never made decisions on my mother's behalf on her foundation's board. Betsy DeVos, denying any role in her mother's foundations's donations of millions of dollars to the anti-LGBTQ hate group, Family Research Council, despite being listed as on the foundation's tax forms for many years as it Vice President, which she claimed was merely an oft-repeated “clerical error” © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say I did not know he took views on the Mueller investigation as such. Donald Trump, claiming he didn't know Matthew Whitaker, who he made temporary Attorney General to smother the Mueller investigation, which he now oversees, often publicly opposed it, including on Fox News, his favorite channel  © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say I did not support the war in Iraq. Donald Trump, who supported the impending invasion in an interview with Howard Stern in September, 2002, six months before the invasion in March, 2003 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say I didn’t know practically what a subpoena was. Now I’m, like, becoming an expert. I have no choice because we have to. It’s a disgrace. Donald Trump billionaire New York real estate developer who'd been involved in thouands of suits prior to being sued by the DOJ, playing the victim card © 2023 Kwiple.com
Liars say I didn't realize it was the global elite. Steven Mnuchin, former Goldman Sachs executive, hedge fund manager and national finance chairman of Trump's election campaign; currently Secretary of the Treasury and leader – until Trump said he's going – of the 2018 American delegation to “it” – the World Economic Forum, the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, of the world's richest and most powerful people from all walks of life © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say I do not decide cases based on personal or policy preferences.  Brett Kavanaugh – belligerent drunk; boofer; bring-back-coat-hangers guy; credibly accused sexual predator; deemed tempermentally unfit for the Supreme Court by 2400 law professors; fawned on by Judicial Crisis Network; front man for U.S. Chamber of Commerce; member/product of the Federalist Society; poster boy for white male privilege; ranter; Republican Party hit man; self-proclaimed scourge of Democrats, liberals, leftists; serial perjurer whitewashed by FBI; Supreme Court justice! © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say I don't know. Vern Buchanan, Republican representing Florida's 16th congressional district, explaining why he voted against a bill he co-sponsored to name a Florida courthouse after Joseph Hatchett, the first black Florida supreme court justice and first black state supreme court justice south of the Mason-Dixon line, following the circulation of a letter opposing the honor by Georgia representative Andrew Clyde — who's agaist the Emmett Till Anti- Lynching Act and recognizing Juneteenth as a federal holiday and called the January 6 insurrection a “normal tourist visit” — because Hatchett upheld the Supreme Court's ban on school prayer in a 1999 decision, leading to killing the bill © 2022 Kwiple.com
Liars say I don't need anybody's money. I'm using my own money. I'm not using donors. I don't care. I'm really rich. Donald Trump © 2019 Kwiple.com
Liars say I have no idea what a burner phone is, to the best of my knowledge I have never even heard the term. Donald Trump © 2022 Kwiple.com
Truth If you want to speak truth to power  – I'm going to go out on a limb here and say – you have to include the truth part. Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher, Oct. 5, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Liars say I LOVE TRUTH! Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump : Oct 28, 2022, 9:10 AM © 2022 Kwiple.com
Liars say I'm going to be a daughter. Ivanka Trump, denying rumors she'd be part of her dad's administration © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say I'm … I … I actually do not know that, sir, but I imagine that is the case. Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security,  answering Sen. Patrick Leahy, who asked her, “Norway is a predominantly white country, isn't it?,” after she claimed President Trump wants more immigrants from Norway rather than Haiti and African countries because they're more skilled and after he reminded her that being from Norway is not a skill © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say I'm not into coups! Donald Trump, July 15, 2021 © 2022 Kwiple.com
Liars say I'm okay with masks. I tell people to wear masks. CDC comes out with a statement that 85% of the people wearing masks catch it. Donald Trump  answering a question about COVID-19 during his televised October 15, 2020, town hall meeting © 2020 Kwiple.com
Liars say I'm very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for Democrats. They definitely don't want Trump! Donald Trump, 8:50 AM - 24 Jul 2018, after standing beside Putin in Helsinki as Putin admitted that he ordered Russian interference in the 2016 election to help Trump win, which puts this statement beyond mere lying and deep into the depths of scumbaggery © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say I must state that you, sir, under historic scrutiny, were proven innocent. Donald Trump, to Brett Kavanaugh during Kavanuagh's swearing in ceremony at the White House, even though Kavanaugh was never on trial and if he had been and had been found “not guilty,” it would only mean he had not been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, not that he had been proven innocent © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say I never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of our Government. So riduculous! Sorry to inform you, but an Election is my form of “coup,” Donald Trump, July 15, 2021 © 2021 Kwiple.com
Liars say I try to stay out of politics. Ivanka Trump, special adviser to and surrogate for her dad, with an office in the White House © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say I've always known this is a real — this is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic. All you had to do was look at other countries. Donald Trump, March 17, 2020, who called COVID-19 coronavirus a "hoax" © 2020 Kwiple.com
Liars say I was having meetings.  I was also with Mark Meadows and others. I was not watching television. Donald Trump, on what he was doing on January 6 while his supporters attacked the Capitol © 2022 Kwiple.com
Liars say The “Intelligence” briefing on so-called “Russian hacking” was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange! Donald Trump, 8:14 PM - 3 Jan 2017, future “President” of the “United” States, lying about a meeting that was never delayed © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say It was a complete and total exoneration. Donald Trump, commenting on William Barr's letter quoting special counsel Mueller's findings about possible obstruction of justice: “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” © 2019 Kwiple.com
Liars say Many of those affected were firefighters, police officers and other first responders. And I was down there also, but I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. Donald Trump, when signing a law extending healthcare for real first responders © 2019 Kwiple.com
Liars say Nothing more could have been done. Donald Trump, summarizing his administrations's response to the COVID-19 pandemic © 2020 Kwiple.com
Liars say Obama had a separation policy, but people don't like to talk about that. Donald Trump © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say One thing I can promise you – this: I will always tell you the truth. Donald Trump © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say Republicans will totally protect people with Pre-Existing Conditions, Democrats will not! Vote Republican. Donald Trump, 5:45 AM – 24 Oct 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say They were incredible. When I went to the courthouse, which is also a prison in a sense, they signed me in and I'll tell you people were crying. People that work there — professionally work there — that have no problems putting in murderers and they see everybody. It's a tough, tough place. And, they were crying. They were actually crying. They said, “I'm sorry,” they’d say, “2024 sir,” and tears were pouring down. I've never seen anything like that. Donald Trump, on police and court officers' reaction to his arraignment in Manhatten on 34 felony counts © 2023 Kwiple.com
Liars say This has nothing to do with race. Donald Trump, on calling any NFL player who kneels during singing of the national anthem in protest of racial injustice in America a “son of a bitch” who should be fired  © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say This is going to cost me a fortune, this thing, believe me, believe me. This is not good for me. I have some very wealthy friends. Not so happy with me, but that's OK. You know, I keep hearing [New York Democratic Senator Chuck] Schumer, “This is for the wealthy.“ Well, if it is, my friends don't know about it. Donald Trump, on the 2017 Republican tax bill © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say That night [January 5, 2021], the Defendant approved and caused the Defendant's Campaign to issue a  public statement that the Defendant knew, from his meeting with the Vice President only hours earlier, was false: “The Vice President and I are in total agreement that the Vice President has the power to act [to overturn elections]." United States of America v. Donald J. Trump © 2023 Kwiple.com
Liars say There are no limits; you can be anything you want to be © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say Two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre. … It didn't get covered. Kellyanne Conway, lying about a massacre that never happened and was never attempted in order to justify Trump's ban on Muslims © 2017 Kwiple.com
Liars say THE UNITED STATES SENATE HAS ══════════════ NEVER ══════════════ BEEN ABLE TO END DEBATE WITH A SIMPLE MAJORITY Poster displayed by Joe Manchin as he announced he's siding with all Republican senators to preverve the anti-democratic requirement for 60 votes to end a filibuster, rather than preserve voting rights for millions of Americans by lowering it to 51, something that's often been done in the past, as when his was the 51st vote that put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court  © 2022 Kwiple.com
Liars say [W]e do not recall the President saying these comments specifically January 12, 2018, joint statement by Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA), claiming they can't remember whether Trump called Caribbean and African countries “shithole countries” at a White House meeting they had attended the day before © 2018 Kwiple.com
Liars say We don't have any tariffs. Donald Trump, Wall Street Journal, October 24, 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
Lies The broad mass of a nation … will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one. Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf © 2021 Kwiple.com
Lies [A] culture of lying leads to nihilism. When people believe in nothing, they can believe in anything. Edward Luce, Financial Times, October 11, 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
Lies “Don't be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck. You're saying it's a falsehood … Sean Spicer. our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that,” she said. “Alternative facts are not facts. They are falsehoods,” replied Mr Todd. Financial Times, January 21, 2017, quoting an exchange between Kellyanne Conway, Trump's Minister of Propaganda and defender of Spicer, who, echoing Trump, had lied by claiming that turnout for the inauguration was larger than turnout for the protest march a day later, and Chuck Todd, moderator of NBC's Meet the Press © 2017 Kwiple.com
Lies Falsehood flies and the truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect: like a man, who hath thought of a good repartee when the discourse is changed, or the company parted; or like a physician, who hath found out an infallible medicine, after the patient is dead. Jonathan Swift, The Examiner No. XIV (Thursday, November 9th, 1710) © 2021 Kwiple.com
Lies  He who is deceived is turned into a thing. Mikhail Bakhtin, 1943 Diary © 2021 Kwiple.com
Lies Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, told House investigators on Tuesday that her work for President Trump, who has a reputation for exaggerations and outright falsehoods, had occasionally required her to tell white lies. But after extended consultation with her lawyers, she insisted that she had not lied about matters material to the investigations into Russia's inter- ference in the 2016 presidential election and possible links to Trump associates, according to three people familiar with her testimony. New York Times, February 27, 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
Lies  I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do! “I Can't Believe What You Say,” Ike & Tina Turner © 2017 Kwiple.com
Lies If I ever thought of these as lies, I soon came to see them as part of the etiquette of poverty — a means of getting by for the poor and also a gift we give to the rich, a practice that lets us avoid talking about the uncomfortable differences between us. Over time, it becomes second nature. Observing this etiquette doesn't feel dishonest because its falsehoods recognize the deeper truth that many of society's institutions are hostile to the poor. Lying to the landlord keeps a roof over our heads. Lying to the social worker keeps our family together. Lying to ourselves allows us to believe it's all going to be OK, somehow, someday. Joshua Hunt, New York Times, July 13, 2022 © 2022 Kwiple.com
Lies If Trump had a dollar for every lie he's told, he would say he had a billion dollars. Stephen Colbert, Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 4/29/2019, commenting on the April 29, 2019, Washington Post headline reporting that “President trump has made more than 10,000 false or misleading claims,” on Trump's 829th day in office, for an average of 12+ per day © 2019 Kwiple.com
Lies In all democracies, politicians occasionally lie to cover up scandals or exaggerate their legislative accomplishments. In the United States, the rise of the right-wing news media in recent decades has tempted politicians to play to their own supporters without worrying whether their rhetoric is inflammatory or fair. But the construction of an alternate reality that obviates the very possibility of conducting politics on the basis of truth is a novelty in this country. And it is increasingly becoming obcious that it will serve a clear purpose: to prepare the ground for egregious violations of basic democratic norms. Yascha Mounk, New York Times, December 21, 2017 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Lies It's now clear that just because Trump is lying to us, that doesn't mean he's lying to himself. Michelle Goldberg, New York Times, September 13, 2020, on tapes revealing that Trump knew COVID-19 was "deadly stuff" in January, 2020, but continued telling Americans it wasn't © 2020 Kwiple.com
Lies A lie cannot live forever. Martin Luther King, Jr., March 14, 1968, before creation of the Internet or social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, FoxNews, or Donald Trump's cult of personality © 2022 Kwiple.com
Lies The lie outlasts the liar. Timothy Snyder, New York Times, January 9, 2021 © 2021 Kwiple.com
Lies Lying is the message.   It's not just that both Putin and Trump lie, it is that they lie in the same way and for the same purpose: blatantly, to assert power over truth itself. Mascha Gessen, New York Review of Books, December 13, 2016 © 2020 Kwiple.com
Lies The man from the BBC was laughing as he reported the White House's false claims about the size of the crowd at Donald Trump's inauguration. He should have been crying. What we are witnessing is the destruction of the credibility of the American government. Gideon Rachman, Financial Times, January 24, 2015 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Lies Mr. Trump knew of and directed the Trump Moscow negotiations throughout the campaign and lied about it. He lied about it because he never expected to win. He also lied about it because he stood to make hundreds of millions of dollars on the Moscow real estate project. Michael Cohen © 2019 Kwiple.com
Lies The moral effort to lie deliberately is beyond most people. It is much easier to deceive oneself. Peter L. Berger, An Invitation to Sociology © 2021 Kwiple.com
Lies Ordinary lying, knowingly telling untruths, is common. Big lying, peddling a full-fledged alternative reality akin to the Marvel Universe, is not. Big lies are  the territory of prophets and demogogues, people who hear divine voices themselves or play at divinity for others. They are self-contained intellectual paradigms immune from scientific falsification. Gideon Rose, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2021 © 2021 Kwiple.com
Lies The point of challenging a lie is not to convince the liar, who is likely to be too far gone in his or her dark purpose to be rehabilitated. But because ever liar has an audience, there may still be time to do some good for others.  Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth © 2019 Kwiple.com
Lies The Republican Party is no longer just obfuscating the truth or defending the president when he is accused of wrongdoing. Rather, Mr. Trump, Fox News and Republicans in Congress seem to be actively using falsehoods to prepare an assault on the institutions that allow American democracy to function. Yascha Mounk, New York Times, December 21, 2017 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Lies That's the great thing about having tiny hands: it makes it easier to pull stuff right out of your ass. Bill Maher, March 17, 2017 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Lying Once the internet was a magical wonderland where everything was true and no one was accountable. Now it is just a place where your lies are indelibly recorded, usually in language a jury finds it very easy to understand. If you want to turn the truth on its head, for goodness’ sake use long words and jargon, and if you must write it down, put it somewhere harmless, like your company’s annual report. Robert Armstrong, Financial Times, December 22, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Lying The safest way to turn indifference to truth and decency into money and power is to be a part of a whole class of people like yourself, not a single big shot. A whole class of financial executives walked away clean from the 2008 crisis because so many other people were acting out the same greed-driven fantasy. Giuliani’s downfall was not in pushing Trump’s nonsense so much as in pushing himself to the front, where all the cameras were.  Robert Armstrong, Financial Times, December 22, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Lying Wherever possible lies should be told about classes of people (Republicans, elites, big business, the media, et al) not specific individuals. You start naming specific people and you are well into the territory of the provably untrue and, more to the point, concrete individuals are much more likely to sue your ass into the ground than are theoretical groups. Robert Armstrong, Financial Times, December 22, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Lies When the attorney general lies to Congress, it is a crime. When the president does it, it is the state of the union. Stephen Colbert, Late Show with Stephen Colbert, 5/2/2019 © 2019 Kwiple.com
Mental health Don't testify. It's either that or an orange jump suit. John M. Dowd, Trump's former lawyer, doubting Trump is mentally capable of testifying to Speclal Counsel Robert Mueller without lying  © 2018 Kwiple.com
Politics Falling victim to deception is no excuse. Leszak Kolakowski, Is God Happy? Selected Essays  © 2017 Kwiple.com
Technology To put the matter bluntly, if we had the polarized politics of today  but the information technology of the 1950s, we almost certainly would not have seen the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, at the United States Capitol. Millions of Republican voters would  probably not have believed the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and demanded from state legislatures new restrictive voting rules and fake election “audits” to counter phantom voter fraud. Richard Hasen, New York Times, March 7, 2022 © 2022 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say He doesn't lie. Attendee at Trump's 2020 campaign kickoff rally explaining why she supports his reelection to an NBC News political reporter © 2019 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say I don't think that this president has done that. Rudy Giuliani, responding to George Stephanopoulos, who asked whether Trump lied when he denied knowledge of hush money payments that he had made to Stormy Daniels © 2018 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say I have not.  Jim Jordan, representing Ohio's 4th Congressional District, responding to Anderson Cooper's question, Have you ever heard the president lie? © 2018 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say I made a mistake and I think humans are flawed and we all make mistakes, Tulsi. I think we can all look ourselves in the mirror and admit that once in our life we have all made a mistake. I'm having to admit this on national television for all the country to see and I have the courage to do so because, in order to move past this and to move forward and be an effective member of Congress, I have to face my mistakes. … I'm not a fraud. I'm not a fake. I didn't materialize from thin air. I worked damn hard to get where I am my entire life. Congressman-elect George Santos, to Tulsi  Gabbard about lying during his campaign about  his grandarents being Holocaust survivors, being  Jewish, having worked for Goldman Sachs & Citi- bank, having graduated college, owning 13 pro- perties, his income, mother's death, residence … © 2023 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say In retrospect, it is clear the 2020 election was a grave betrayal of American democracy. Given the facts that have since emerged about that election, no honest person can deny it. Tucker Carlson, on what election officials at all levels of government have called “the most secure in American history” © 2023 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say It actually puts an exclamation point on the fact that we have a two-tiered justice system. If you're a Republican, you can't even lie to Congress or lie to an FBI agent or they’re coming after you. They're gonna bury you. They're gonna put you in the D.C. jail and terrorize and torture you and not live up to the Constitution there. Louie Gohmert, complaining about the FBI's arrest of Peter Navarro for refusing to respond to a subpoena to testify before the January 6 committee days after a grand jury acquitted a Democrat accused of lying to the FBI © 2022 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say The Mueller Report  TRUMP CLEAN No crimes committed Dem hoax destroyed front-page headline, New York Post, Friday, April 19, 2019 [The New York Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporoation, owner of Fox News, which broadcast the page to a much wider audience] © 2019 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye Liz Cheney Madison Cawthorn, 9:33 AM – May 12, 2021, Repubican representing North Carolina's 11th congressional district, on Liz Cheney's ouster from her Republican Party leadership position for refusing to spread Trump's Big Lie © 2021 Kwiple.com
Trumpists say The only possible violation there would be, was it a campaign finance violation – which usually would result in a fine, by the way – not this big stormtroopers [the FBI] coming in and breaking down his apartment and breaking down his office. Rudy Giuliani, on the FBI's warranted search of Michael Cohen's house, office and hotel room for documents related to Cohen's $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels [Cohen said they knocked on his door] © 2018 Kwiple.com
Post-truth Post-truth refers to blatant lies being routine across society, and it means that politicians can lie without condemnation. This is different from the cliché that all politicians lie and make promises they have no intention of keeping – this still expects honesty to be the default position. In a post-truth world, this expectation no longer holds. Kathleen Higgins, “Post-truth: a guide for the perplexed,” Nature, November 28, 2016 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Public discourse Demagogues need no longer stand erect for hours orating into a radio microphone. Tweet lies from a smartphone instead. David Frum, The Atlantic, March 2017 © 2020 Kwiple.com
Punt returners say The irony of your making that statement here, I cannot avoid. Angus King, responding to FBI director James Comey's claim during a Senate intelligence committee hearing that, “Especially in a public forum, we never confirm or deny a pending investigation,” ignoring the press conference he held eleven days before the 2016 election to announce that the FBI was reopening its investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails without announcing it was actively investigating Donald Trump's connections to Russia © 2017 Kwiple.com
Punt returners say Vad i helvete pratar du om? What the hell are you talking about? Det fanns ingen terroristattack. There was no terrorist attack. Swedes, responding to Donald Trump's February 18, 2017, claim there had been a terrorist attack in Sweden the night before, adding, for emphasis, “Sweden! Sweden! Who would believe this? Sweden.” © 2017 Kwiple.com
Racism I think the younger generations have a real problem with wanting to build their identity around being a victim. They want to have racism to fight — not fight racism — have racism to fight so badly that, when it's not there, they make it up.  And there's enough real racism in the world that making up more doesn't help. Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher, Oct. 5, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Resisters say Alt facts are  −1  Placard, NYC Science March, Earth Day, April 22, 2017 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Resisters say Never Remember Said of victims of the Bowling Green Massacre © 2017 Kwiple.com
Resisters say S/he was caught taking a Trump Said of liars © 2017 Kwiple.com
Resisters say What do Trump and atoms have in common? They make up everything Placard, NYC Science March, Earth Day, April 22, 2017 © 2017 Kwiple.com
Resisters say You've been Conwayed Meaning you've been bullshitted, lied to, or both © 2017 Kwiple.com
Selfie I could have. But I didn't. Rupert Murdoch, when asked under oath by a lawyer whether he could have ordered Fox News hosts like Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, and Laura Ingraham to keep  Trump's lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani off the air to prevent them from spreading what he, other Fox executives, and its hosts knew were lies about Dominion Voting Systems and voter fraud during the 2020 elections © 2023 Kwiple.com
Selfie One of the greatest of all terms I've come up with is “fake.” Donald Trump © 2018 Kwiple.com
Snapshot I must confess a certain perverse admiration. To lie in the way that Santos has requires reserves of audacity, creativity and nerve that most people can scarcely imagine. And where but New York could someone lie about being Jewish to gain political advantage? George Santos portrayed by Joshua Chaffin, Financial Times, January 6, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Snapshot He lies like a goose shits. If he's not doing it at the very moment, he's about to. George Santos portrayed by Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher, Jan. 20, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Snapshot Santos is the first one to realize that, since we are all in our hermetically-sealed media bubble now, you can pretend to be everything to voters in both parties  and no one on either side will notice. Everyone saw in George Santos what they wanted to see. Republicans saw a Trump-loving rich prick,  Democrats saw a proudly gay person of color, and the Proud Boys saw a guy who would blow them after a couple of beers and not tell anyone. George Santos portrayed by Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher, Jan. 20, 2023 © 2023 Kwiple.com
Snapshot I don't know why the president tweets out things that are not true. You know he does it, everybody knows he does it, but he does.  Donald Trump portrayed by Bob Corker © 2017 Kwiple.com
Snapshot It is easy to mock those who think he “tells it like it is.” What they mean is that he speaks plainly. Even when he lies, Mr Trump's meaning is easy to grasp. Donald Trump portrayed by Edward Luce Financial Times, March 8, 2018 © 2018 Kwiple.com
Snapshot The big idea about Trump was that he was talking plain and telling it like it is, even though he was lying all the time. It was authentic lying. Donald Trump portrayed by Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign manager © 2019 Kwiple.com
Snapshot Trump's nose has grown so long he could putt with it. Donald Trump portrayed by Rick Reilly © 2019 Kwiple.com
Snapshot I expect the president to lie to the American people. Why do I expect this? Because he has been lying to the American people. Jerrold Nadler, House Judiciary Committee Chairman, before Trump's January 9, 2019, Oval Office address to the nation about the southern border wall  © 2019 Kwiple.com
Snapshot  If lying was his means for using power, corruption was his end. Donald Trump portrayed by George Packer © 2016 Kwiple.com
Snapshot Mr Trump … is in a different category of dishonesty from the villains of yesteryear, such as Dick Cheney, George W Bush's vice-president. With Mr Trump, the lies are so frequent and so flagrant that they are undeniable. Donald Trump portrayed by Gideon Rachman © 2017 Kwiple.com
Snapshot Mr. Trump sprays out lies like a skunk trying to repel its enemies. Donald Trump portrayed by Gideon Rachman © 2016 Kwiple.com
Snapshot He is an unbelievable politician. Donald Trump portrayed by Anthony Scaramucci, White House Communications Director © 2017 Kwiple.com
Snapshot It is true that all presidents lie: the difference is that for Trump, telling the truth was the exception. Donald Trump portrayed by Timothy Snyder © 2021 Kwiple.com
Snapshot I wouldn't believe Donald Trump if his tongue were notarized. Donald Trump portrayed by Alair Townsend, former New York City deputy mayor © 2019 Kwiple.com
Snapshot Kids lie without any real strategy. That's why Trump seems so much like a toddler sometimes. His tendency to lie, when it's clearly a lie, is something small children do. They also bully and take toys from each other. It's something you're supposed to grow out of by the time you're 70. Donald Trump portrayed by Olivia Wilde © 2017 Kwiple.com
Southern border wall Border-Lying Personality Disorder Monologue title, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, January 10, 2019  © 2019 Kwiple.com
State of the union c Trump's lawyers  don't want him to testify under oath  before special council Robert Mueller because, they say, he's incapable of not lying and not committing perjury  Gist of “In Russia Inquiry, Lawyers Tell  Trump to Refuse Mueller Interview,” New York Times, February 5, 2018  © 2018 Kwiple.com
Surely you jest Believe me. Donald Trump © 2017 Kwiple.com
Tech bros say Using algorithms to generate videos of people saying things they never said and conveying facial expressions for emotions they never felt that are so realistic humans can't detect the fakery poses no threat of more fake news; no threat of more people being subjected to character assassination; no threat of more people believing that everybody lies all the time; no threat to national security; no threat to democracy --> © 2018 Kwiple.com
Truth Post-truth is pre-fascism. Timothy Snyder, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century © 2017 Kwiple.com
Wannabe autocrats say We won. We won in a landslide. This was a landslide.  Donald Trump's Big Lie, January 6, 2021, and for weeks beforehand © 2021 Kwiple.com
the West The west is an “empire of hypocrisy”. It is Russia that is the real “empire of lies”. And when it comes to a trial of strength between systems, hypocrisy works better than outright lies. Gideon Rachman, Financial Times, May 23, 2022 © 2022 Kwiple.com