Pseudologia Fantastica

Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? It's better known as pathological lying or, if you want to use another fancy word, "mythomania." In today's short post we reflect on America's biggest liar ever, Donald Trump.

The total count of false or misleading claims after four years of Trump's presidency stands at a staggering number: 30,573 times this man told a lie. Lying is a common human phenomenon, we've all done it. Usually we deceive in order to avoid uncomfortable consequences. Or we use the fib with criminal intent to gain some sort of material advantage. Pathological lying, or pseudologia fantastica isn't like that; it is a mental disorder that's often related to narcissism and extreme egoism. You see, pathological liars often lie to elevate their own person, they lie about something they wish they had.

Trump started before his run for the presidency by lying about Barack Obama's place of birth. And on the day he was inaugurated he started lying about the size of the crowd and even about the weather on that day. Right from the very beginning it was clear to see that this man simply can't help himself. Trump never pulls back on blatantly false statements - lies that are so obvious that they often defy the laws of physics, chemistry and common sense. Trump has been like this for decades, maybe his entire adult life. Here's a quote by Trump from 13 September 1982:

"Man is the most vicious of all animals, and life is a series of battles ending in victory or defeat."
_{source: Forbes}

Twitter didn't exist back then, times have changed, but his attitude hasn't changed one bit. Every day and every encounter is indeed a battle for this man and he can't stand to lose.

He doesn't care about truth. He doesn't care about his cultist followers. He only cares about saying or doing what's best for him at any given time or occasion. With Trump it's always about Trump, no one and nothing else. He will say what he thinks will lead to the best outcome for him in the current battle, the current moment. What's still puzzling to me is why millions of Americans put their support behind such an obvious crook. I mean, they must know they're being lied to. In a British radio program I once heard an American who called in say something like "yes, Trump is a liar, but at least he's an honest liar," meaning that all other politicians try to cover up their lies. Which is true by the way. But is that a good reason to support the liar who doesn't have an ounce of shame while telling the most outrageous lies? Even Richard "Tricky Dicky" Nixon had some measure of guilt, shame and regret as America's second biggest mendacious commander in chief.

I don't know what to say to people who still stand behind Trump. For the rest I've included two short videos with a summary of Trump's dishonest presidency. One one hand we have to stand in awe of what this man has achieved; if lying was an Olympic sport, Trump would have won the gold medal for the United States.In truth though, this is not something to make fun of; his lies have cost many lifes in the pandemic and incited an attempted coupe and ending American democracy, or what's left of it. Well, at least I've learned a few new beautiful words while collecting information for this post...

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