Former President Donald Trump gave an inflammatory press conference just last week. Because the reality is, his claims and his statistics didn’t just raise eyebrows – they left everyone in bewilderment. Here are 11 times Trump made false or misleading statements during the debate. He used fake job numbers and made up crime statistics to order the National Guard to Washington, D.C.
Unusual even by his standards, Trump opened the entire press conference talking about plans for a new White House ballroom. He turned a blind eye to urgent matters such as escalating crime. This was just the first in what would be a string of dubious statements and assertions. He described Washington, D.C., in alarming terms, likening it to a “dystopian hellhole out of a steampunk novel.”
As Trump went on, he flashed up charts showing supposed crime statistics, breezily asking the audience, “Alright? But his cavalier approach to the accuracy of these figures is what really got him in hot water. Critics argued that his arguments against the federal takeover of the capital’s police force just didn’t make any sense. They argued that the math he used just doesn’t add up.
The former president earned headlines by making an outsized prescription drug price promise. He even claimed that he could cut them by a jawdropping “1500%.” From every corner of the street safety field, this statement was met with a mix of surprise and enthusiasm. Even Seth Meyers, one of Trump’s few late-night supporters, commented on how shameless it was for Trump to keep putting these made up numbers out there.
“Trump has no shame, so he just keeps rolling with his made-up numbers.” – Seth Meyers
Meyers similarly emphasized the ridiculousness of Trump’s press conference communication techniques. He pointed out that Trump seemed to be presenting facts as if they were common knowledge, asking rhetorically, “Who are you going to believe, the stats on CNN or the guy who says he can lower drug prices by 1500%?”
In a peculiar moment, Trump questioned whether people were “looking at it, or smoking it like five times a day?” in reference to marijuana use. On the campaign trail, he floated the idea of reclassifying marijuana but offered no real specifics.
Almost from the very beginning of the press conference, we saw the dangerous precedent of trusting made-up numbers and fake facts trump on everything. In fairness, observers pointed out, this wasn’t some random occurrence but the latest example of a troubling trend of deceptive claims. In her usual incisive fashion, Meyers summed up the day. He countered that a lot of what Trump proposed was smoke and mirrors and very theatrical in presentation.
“Ultimately, I think most of the Trump press conference could be summed up this way.” – Seth Meyers