Politifact Declares ‘Pants on Fire’ to Trump’s: ‘You know, I'm, like, a smart person.’

The Pulitzer Prize winning fact checking organization Politifact has chosen its 2016 Lie of the Year. The winner for the second straight year is President-Elect Donald Trump. After winning by a landslide in 2015, the odds of a repeat victory were strong. However, Trump cemented his lead with one of the craziest and most outlandish public statements he has ever made. In an interview Sunday, Trump’s refusal to receive intelligence briefings was brought into question and he responded with the poetic resonance of a 17-year-old valley girl, "You know, I'm, like, a smart person." According to a Politifact spokesperson it took only 30 seconds to confer the verdict, ‘Pants on Fire’ as well as award Trump the 2016 Lie of the Year award. The delay in the decision was due to the stunned silence in the room following his statement, followed by a barrage of raucous laughter.

In 2015, Trump won the coveted Lie of the Year not with one mere lie, but with a totality of lies that would extend Pinocchio’s nose all the way to Vladimir Putin. A whopping 76% of Trump’s statements received ‘Mostly False’, ‘False’ or ‘Pants on Fire’ verdicts. While there are always a few annoying citizens that prefer that their President speak the truth, you have to be impressed with the extraordinary ability the man has to spread deceit. Donald Trump is truly the Michelangelo of Lies. For those lie-haters however, it should be noted that the latest tally of Trump lies shows substantial improvement. Only 70% of his statements are rated as ‘Mostly False’, ‘False’ or ‘Pants on Fire’. It should also be noted that a massive 4% of his statements were given the ‘True’ verdict which among republicans is actually pretty respectable.






photo by Evan Guest