Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Washington Post Fact Checker Had to Come Up With a Whole New Category for All the Lies Donald Trump Has Repeated More Than 20 Times, And Hoo Boy, There Are a Lot

Washington Post Fact Checker Had to Come Up With a Whole New Category for All the Lies Donald Trump Has Repeated More Than 20 Times, And Hoo Boy, There Are a Lot
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, November 16, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Well, that's appropriate.

It's common knowledge that politicians often misconstrue the truth and occasionally even lie, but it wasn't until the campaign and election of President Donald Trump that outright lies from the head of the executive branch and those serving him became the new normal.

Not only does Trump lie (6,240 times since his inauguration at last count), but he freely repeats the lies as well with the assurance that his base will believe him over the journalists he's spent the last three years vilifying.


So comfortable is the President with repeating long-debunked lies that the Washington Post has created a whole new category for him in their fact-checking department.

The fact-checker has previously rated the level of a statement's falsehood with "Pinocchios" ranging on a scale from one to four, with four Pinocchios being outright false. However, the President has repeated "four Pinocchio" statements so many times, the Washington Post has introduced "Bottomless Pinocchios," reserved for lies ranging from three to four Pinnochios repeated over 20 times.

It's an easier feat for the President than many may realize. For instance, Trump has repeated the false claim that his administration passed the biggest tax cut in history a whopping 123 times. Exaggerating the United States' trade deficits? 117 times. In fact, 14 of the President's statements have qualified for the prestigious distinction of Bottomless Pinocchios.

Sadly, Twitter wasn't surprised.

However, there's still some discontent.

As Trump's lies have grown more and more blatant, Americans have pressured the media to stop replacing the word "lies" with softer ones like "false statements," "misleading claims," or—in this case—"Pinocchios."

For its part, The Washington Post has long been a thorn in Trump's—and a certain other corrupt president's—side. In fact, the same journalist who helped expose the Watergate coverup during the Nixon era, Bob Woodward, also wrote Fear: Trump in the White House, which used hours of recorded interviews and hundreds of documents to cover a President whose administration is a sinking ship. During a normal Presidency, Americans would likely still be talking about the book, which was released in September, and a normal President would have had to heavily strategize to discredit it. After a few scathing tweets from the President, it's now largely forgotten.

That's because, to many, this is not a normal presidency nor is this a normal President, largely thanks to a sheer willingness—perhaps even eagerness—to lie.

The President may never win that elusive Nobel Peace Prize for his talks with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, but thanks to the Washington Post, he is the only figure with the distinction of 14 bottomless Pinocchios—a fitting tribute.

More from People/donald-trump

Jason Ritter; John Ritter
@jasonritter1980, ABC

Fan Asks Jason Ritter To Do His Dad's 'Creep Face' From 'Three's Company'—And He Nails It

Actor Jason Ritter humbly obliged a fan who requested he mimic his late father John Ritter's goofy expression often seen in the 1970s sitcom that made him famous.

John Ritter was known for playing the likable culinary school student Jack Tripper on Three's Company, which ran for eight seasons from 1977 to 1984.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ariana Grande during interview with lie detector test
Vanity Fair/YouTube

Ariana Grande Hilariously Frets After Lie Detector Suggests She Thinks Moon Landing Was Fake

In the excitement over the film adaptation ofWicked, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have toured for various appearances and interviews, and one of their most anticipated appearances was with Vanity Fair to have an interview while wearing a lie detector.

When asked who would like to go first, Grande was quick to volunteer but also asked if the machine would be able to pick up on her anxiety.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Corey DeAngelis
Fox News

Anti-LGBTQ+ Activist Whose Gay Adult Film Past Was Exposed Now Claims He Was A 'Victim'

Following allegations that he starred in several gay adult films, anti-LGBTQ+ activist Corey DeAngelis admitted in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he'd made "mistakes" while claiming he was the "victim of poor decisions and poor influences."

DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children—a conservative organization that promotes "school choice," the use of public dollars to help families pay for private school tuition and homeschooling—was placed on leave after the organization learned of allegations that he appeared in videos on the adult-film site GayHoopla under the alias Seth Rose, including a film titled Jerk Off Race.

Keep ReadingShow less
JD Vance and Tim Walz
CBS News

Harris Campaign Turns JD Vance's 'Damning Non-Answer' On 2020 Election Into Brutal New Ad

Following last night's vice presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign hit back at former President Donald Trump's running mate J.D. Vance after Vance refused to say Trump lost the 2020 election, turning his "damning non-answer" into a brutal new ad.

During the debate, Kamala Harris's running mate Governor Tim Walz asked Vance directly who won the 2020 election and instead of answering, Vance pivoted away from the question altogether. Vance also minimized the significance of the insurrection of January 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to halt the certification of the election results.

Keep ReadingShow less
Mark Zuckerberg
Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Mark Zuckerberg Sparks Debate After Using AI To Illustrate His Young Daughter's Book

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg divided the internet by using AI to bring his six-year-old daughter August's illustrations to life.

Zuckerberg posted a video of his presentation at the annual Connect conference explaining how he and his second daughter used Meta AI to illustrate and create a trailer for her book, The Mermaid Crystal.

Keep ReadingShow less