“Believe Me!” — The Lies That Built the Brand
Part I: Welcome to Trumpworld — Where Facts Go to Die and the Truth Gets Evicted for Nonpayment
Donald J. Trump once bragged that he "tells it like it is." But after years of fact-checking, it turns out what he really tells is… whatever serves his ego at that moment.
In just four years during his first presidency, Trump racked up 30,573 false or misleading claims, according to The Washington Post—an average of 21 lies per day. That’s not an exaggeration. That’s a full-time job with overtime, benefits, and a dental plan for gaslighting.
And yet, millions still believe him.
So we’re launching this series, "Believe Me!", to unpack the avalanche of lies, the strategy behind them, and why it matters. Not just to dunk on Trump (though, let's be honest, that’s a bonus), but to reach people who’ve been swept up in the myth—and offer some clarity. With receipts.
The Hall of Fame of Falsehoods
Trump didn’t invent political lying—he franchised it. He turned the White House into a discount QVC network of delusion, where facts were optional and exaggeration was policy.
- The Toronto Star documented 5,276 falsehoods just from 2017 to mid-2019.
- The lies peaked during midterms, impeachments, and elections—shocker.
- Fact-checkers eventually stopped calling them “misleading” and just went with “lies.”
CNN’s Daniel Dale fact-checked Trump like it was his religion. The Washington Post created an entirely new category called “Bottomless Pinocchios” for statements Trump repeated at least 20 times after they were proven false.
Spoiler: Trump was the only person who qualified.
“Flood the Zone with Sh*t” — Yes, That’s the Actual Strategy
Steve Bannon, Trump’s original necromancer-in-chief, revealed the playbook:
“The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.”
Mission accomplished.
Trump’s tactic isn’t just to lie—it’s to lie so constantly and about so many things that nobody can keep up. It’s political gaslighting on an industrial scale. Not one outrage sticks because a dozen new ones show up before lunch.
Repetition = Belief = Power
Trump knows something psychologists have been screaming about since 2016:
Repeat a lie enough times, and people start to believe it.
It’s called the Illusory Truth Effect, and Trump uses it the way toddlers use glitter—liberally and without any regard for the mess it leaves behind.
Academic studies even found a direct link between Trump’s repeated falsehoods and misinformation among Republican voters, especially those getting news from right-wing media. Translation: if you tell people the sky is green long enough, eventually someone sells green sunglasses.
Not a Liar—A Bullshitter (And Yes, That’s Worse)
According to philosopher Harry Frankfurt (whose book On Bullshit should be required reading at Trump rallies), a liar knows the truth and tries to hide it. A bullshitter on the other hand, doesn’t care if what he’s saying is true or false.
Trump isn’t just lying. He’s bullshitting.
He doesn’t conceal the truth—he drowns it in golden sewage.
From “I had the biggest inauguration crowd ever” to “I won the election in a landslide” to “injecting bleach might work,” Trump’s brand is not built on facts—it’s built on feelings, and those feelings are filtered through unchecked narcissism.
Why This Series?
Because Trump isn’t a one-man misinformation factory anymore—he’s a movement. His lies are now gospel to a large chunk of the population, and the rest of us are left trying to explain that no, windmills don’t cause cancer, and yes, Mexico still hasn’t paid for the wall.
This series will:
- Break down the lies, one domain at a time (business, charity, sports, politics, media, and more)
- Use verifiable facts and sources
- Pair truth with wit—because humor helps truth cut through the noise
- Speak directly to those who’ve been misled
Next Up:
Part II – “Business as Unusual: How Trump Built a Fortune on Fiction”
We’ll dive into his fake Forbes rankings, “John Barron” alter ego, epic debt denial, and that time he said his net worth was based on… his feelings.
Because when your bank balance is a mood ring, maybe don’t run the country?
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