Donald Trump visited Iraq yesterday and told troops, as he has before, that he’d gotten them their first pay raise in 10 years. This is not accurate. It is false. He has said it repeatedly. So, people are howling on social media, why won’t the media call it for what it is — a lie?
From CNN:
Speaking to troops at Al Asad Air Base during his surprise visit to Iraq, Trump told troops: “You protect us. We are always going to protect you. And you just saw that, ’cause you just got one of the biggest pay raises you’ve ever received. … You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one. I got you a big one.”
In fact, military pay has increased every year for more than three decades. It was raised 2.4% in 2018 and then 2.6% in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The 2.6% pay raise is the largest in the past 9 years.
Misleading? Yes. Also false, both as to 10 years without a raise and a 10 percent pay raise.
A PBS correspondent put it this way:
And a reminder in case you missed this yesterday: President Donald Trump incorrectly told troops in Iraq on Wednesday that he gave them their first pay raise in more than 10 years — a falsehood he has repeatedly told. https://t.co/XWyFnn3e6M
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) December 27, 2018
“Incorrectly.” Yes, that, too.
Bill Kristol said it was “not true.”
Trump to the troops in Iraq:
“You haven’t gotten [a raise] in more than ten years. More than ten years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one….I said no. Make it ten percent. Make it more than ten percent. Because it’s been a long time.”
Just FYI, none of this is true.— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 26, 2018
The weight of Twitter commentary on such posts is that Trump’s pronouncement should be labeled a lie.
But …. there is a school of thought that Trump doesn’t know the truth. He doesn’t read. He doesn’t ask questions. He spurns advice. The truth is whatever his gut tells him. His reality is the moment. Facts? The hobgoblins of losers. Might it be that a true liar would be preferable, at least for a certain understanding of the facts?