September 17, 2016

AP Jumps on the “Lie” Bandwagon

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The New York Times started us off, and today Josh Marshall points us to yet another news outlet telling it like it is:

Meanwhile, Trump himself seems delighted by the coverage of his birther event yesterday:

This is fairly remarkable since Trump is promoting a story that’s all about the fact that he lied about Obama, lied about Hillary Clinton, and hoodwinked the press into giving his hotel and his campaign free publicity. I have two theories about this. First, Trump assumes his fans never click the link. Second, his fans love the idea of Trump pulling one over on the press. I suppose it’s a combination of both.

Meanwhile, here’s a taste of other straight news reporters finally calling Trump’s lies lies:

Michael Barbaro, New York Times: “Around 11 a.m. Friday in Washington, he gave up the lie….This lie was different from the start, an insidious, calculated calumny that sought to undo the embrace of an African-American president by the 69 million voters who elected him in 2008.”

Julie Pace, AP: “Trump’s latest attempt to persuade voters that he’s the lesser of two evils came Friday, when he abruptly reversed course on his lie that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.”

Philip Rucker and Dan Balz, Washington Post: “After five years of peddling lies and innuendo about the circumstances of President Obama’s birth, Trump on Friday bowed to the facts and acknowledged for the first time that Obama was born in the United States, though he refused to apologize for his efforts to delegitimize the nation’s first black president.”

“Tribune News Services,” Chicago Tribune: “After five years as the chief promoter of a lie about Barack Obama’s birthplace, Donald Trump abruptly reversed course Friday and acknowledged the fact that the president was born in America. He then immediately peddled another false conspiracy.”

Mary Ann Georgantopoulos and Ruby Cramer, BuzzFeed: “Donald Trump on Friday admitted that President Obama was born in the United States — and lied twice while doing so — after pushing the conspiracy theory he was not since 2011.”

That seems to be about it. The LA Times is sticking with “falsehood” for now, and the Wall Street Journal with “false accusations.” USA Today went with “no factual basis.” CNN barely even mentioned that birtherism was untrue in its print piece, and said only that Trump “continues to falsely blame” Hillary Clinton for starting the rumors. The BBC called it a “conspiracy theory.”

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