{"id":408,"date":"2026-06-13T04:18:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T04:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prorelocationteam.com\/?p=408"},"modified":"2026-06-13T04:18:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T04:18:03","slug":"as-a-philosopher-im-convinced-that-trump-isnt-lying-%e2%88%92-hes-doing-something-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prorelocationteam.com\/?p=408","title":{"rendered":"As a philosopher, I\u2019m convinced that Trump isn\u2019t lying \u2212 he\u2019s doing something\u00a0worse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For much of his political career, dishonesty has been without cost for Donald Trump. He entered into national politics with the birther lie, claiming that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S., and that did not prevent Trump from winning the 2016 GOP nomination. <\/p>\n

Read more The Constitution promises an interpreter for fair trials \u2013 US courts often can\u2019t\u00a0deliver<\/a><\/p>\n

His persistent false statements about crowd sizes, electoral outcomes and the birthplace of his father barely garner press coverage today. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the admission that Trump lies seems to have had little impact. On the campaign trail during the 2024 presidential race, vice-presidential candidate JD Vance acknowledged that Trump\u2019s story that Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Ohio had been \u201ccreated.\u201d That confession had no discernible effect on Trump\u2019s popularity. In fact, some measures indicate that Trump\u2019s supporters admire his untruthfulness.<\/p>\n

More recently, however, things have changed. Data now indicates mounting regret and disappointment among his base. <\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s failure to sustain convincing messaging about the Iran war, the Epstein files, the tariffs and inflation have left some supporters feeling duped and abandoned by Trump.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s recent approval numbers are registering this shift. <\/p>\n

This might suggest that fact-checking efforts are paying off. But, as a philosopher who studies the cognitive and emotional aspects of citizenship, I think this is incorrect. There is a better explanation for why, at this point, Trump\u2019s followers are reacting negatively to his assertions.<\/p>\n

When falsehoods aren\u2019t lies<\/h2>\n

Although fact-checking can be successful in establishing the facts among people who have not already made up their minds, it is generally ineffective among true believers. Once someone has formed an opinion, debunking their belief can backfire, driving them to commit even more strongly to their mistake. <\/p>\n

To explain the emerging shift among Trump\u2019s base requires looking elsewhere. Specifically, I think it requires abandoning the idea that Trump\u2019s more outlandishly false statements are lies at all.<\/p>\n

I realize that this may sound odd. <\/p>\n

To explain, let\u2019s begin by noting that it is surprisingly difficult to give an adequate definition of lying. Intuitive characterizations \u2013 \u201cA lie is something that isn\u2019t true\u201d \u2013 fall short. <\/p>\n

For example, lying isn\u2019t merely uttering a falsehood. Honest mistakes and statements made from lapses of memory are not lies. You could say instead that lying is deliberately asserting what one knows to be false. <\/p>\n

But that won\u2019t work, either. <\/p>\n

President Bill Clinton lied when he claimed that \u201cthere is not a sexual relationship,\u201d which, at the moment he said it, was true.<\/p>\n

Read more Pepper pot stew was survival food for the poor and a path to freedom for Black women in early\u00a0Philadelphia<\/a><\/p>\n

At the very least, the definition of lying must include speaking with the aim of causing one\u2019s audience to adopt a falsehood. But that would make stage actors liars. <\/p>\n

We should say instead that lying is a matter of speaking with the intent to deceive. Though difficulties remain, that\u2019s a workable definition.<\/p>\n

Betrayal by contempt<\/h2>\n

Given the ease with which many of Trump\u2019s false statements are debunked, I think it\u2019s unlikely that he aims to deceive anyone. No one really believes that Trump has stopped eight wars, defeated inflation, brought gasoline prices below US$2, cut a deal with the CEO of Sharpie or has 100% approval for his military incursion in Iran \u2013 all things he has said.<\/p>\n

As he is not attempting to deceive, Trump isn\u2019t lying when he makes such claims. Rather, he is doing something else entirely, something arguably more pernicious.\n<\/p>\n

From my perspective as a political philosopher, these and other similar claims indicate he is speaking falsely as a way of demeaning or taunting his detractors. By resolutely asserting unbelievable falsehoods, Trump is expressing contempt. He is deriding the enterprise of journalism, in effect forcing reporters to write stories about his incredible statements, thereby indirectly controlling the news cycle.<\/p>\n

It seems to me that his purpose is not to convince anyone, but rather to declare to the press, and perhaps also to his opposition, \u201cYou cannot stop me.\u201d For a political movement rooted in the idea that U.S. politics is a swamp in need of draining, Trump\u2019s defiant style has been successful.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the catch. It appears that Trump\u2019s supporters are now beginning to feel that they, too, are on the receiving end of his contempt. <\/p>\n

His recent claims that grocery prices are falling, his tariffs are working, the economy is roaring and the operation in Iran is a \u201clittle excursion\u201d that has already been successful are not only obvious falsehoods. <\/p>\n

In asserting them, Trump belittles those who must bear the effects of a struggling economy and an ill-conceived war. From this perspective, the shift among his base is not due to their realization that Trump lies. It\u2019s that he has betrayed them.<\/p>\n

This story has been updated to correct the date on which President Trump spoke to GOP lawmakers, describing the war in Iran as a \u2018short-term excursion.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat and utility costs of massive data\u00a0centers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump\u2019s false claims about the Iran War, Epstein files, tariffs and inflation have left some supporters who have traditionally believed all he says feeling duped and abandoned. Why now?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[315],"tags":[1258,1301,327,333,1298,1299,1297,584,1300,878,394],"class_list":["post-408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-barack-obama","tag-birther-conspiracy","tag-donald-trump","tag-epstein-files","tag-fact-checking","tag-gas-prices","tag-inflation","tag-jd-vance","tag-lies","tag-tariffs","tag-us-iran-conflict"],"yoast_head":"\nAs a philosopher, I\u2019m convinced that Trump isn\u2019t lying \u2212 he\u2019s doing something\u00a0worse - Pro Relocation Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/prorelocationteam.com\/?p=408\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As a philosopher, I\u2019m convinced that Trump isn\u2019t lying \u2212 he\u2019s doing something\u00a0worse - Pro Relocation Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Donald Trump\u2019s false claims about the Iran War, Epstein files, tariffs and inflation have left some supporters who have traditionally believed all he says feeling duped and abandoned. 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