The Atlantic

Who Can Tell the Emperor When He Has No Clothes?

Donald Trump flaunted his elastic conception of truth in an interview with <em>Time</em>—but he may yet learn that facts are stubborn things.
Source: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

How can anyone convince the most powerful man in the world of something he does not wish to believe?

It’s not an idle question. In a remarkable interview with Time’s Michael Scherer, President Trump flaunted his elastic relationship with truth. Instead of weighing evidence, he explained, he prefers to trust his gut. “I’m a very instinctual person,” he said, “but my instinct turns out to be right.”

Trump unrepentantly rehearsed his litany of false or unsubstantiated claims with Scherer. Was Ted Cruz’s father linked to Lee Harvey Oswald?  “Why do you say that I have to apologize? I’m just.) Had the president tapped his phones? “A lot of information has just been learned, and a lot of information may be learned over the next coming period of time. We will see what happens.” Were there 3 million fraudulent votes cast in 2016? “Well I think I will be proved right about that too.”

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