One repeated detail in the stories stood out: fictional encounters often featured people addressing Trump as “sir” and asking for help.
In 2016, a Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star began fact-checking claims made by Donald Trump, who was then running for president. What seemed like a short-term project at first went on for years. By 2020, the journalist had documented more than 8,500 false claims and eventually stopped checking each one individually because there were so many.
Based on data from CNN
After a decade of fact-checking, the author concluded that systematic dishonesty had become a prominent feature of U.S. political life. Here are 15 things he learned while checking Trump’s claims.
1. Other politicians, including Joe Biden, JD Vance and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also make false claims. But in the author’s view, no one in Washington spreads falsehoods as often, as openly or on as many different subjects as Trump.
2. Trump made the most false claims during political crises. The author highlights the 2018 midterm elections, the 2019 Ukraine scandal, the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost.
3. The false stories weren’t only about politics. Trump, for example, talked about a call from the Boy Scouts that never happened and a “Man of the Year” award in Michigan that he never received.
4. Many claims are repeated. That makes it easier and quicker to debunk the same claim the second time...
One repeated detail in the stories stood out: fictional encounters often featured people addressing Trump as “sir” and asking for help. In 2016, a Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star beg...