Politics

Trump has made more than 12,000 false or misleading claims – The Washington Post

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Trump has made more than 12,000 false or misleading claims – The Washington Post

President Trump’s proclivity for spouting exaggerated numbers, unwarranted boasts and outright falsehoods has continued at a remarkable pace. As of Aug. 5, his 928th day in office, he had made 12,019 false or misleading claims, according to the Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement the president has uttered.

NPR

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Trump 2020 Campaign Donors Are Under Pressure : NPR

Trump campaign donors are under pressure.

Two high-profile episodes this week could signal a year in which the glare of the campaign usually reserved for candidates pivots to put those who make personal donations to political campaigns in the spotlight.

The first comes courtesy of Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, of San Antonio, who is also the co-chairman of his twin brother Julian Castro's campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.

 

Trump as a Racist

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I think it’s fair to say that many of President Donald Trump’s views are racist, or at least excessively conventional and unwilling to accept the multicultural, diverse nation we are that benefits from trade and maintaining a strong relationship with other nations. I am hesitant to call anyone a racist, just because I think it’s important to judge ideas on their merits and not by labels.

To be sure, some of the policies that the president has called for reexamination are overdue but you have to wonder if his ideas are rooted in fairness and sound economics. There’s a case to be made that many are not rooted in those principles. But maybe it’s time for a change, to experiment and try new ideas. To be critical of existing institutions which haven’t necessarily served the American people well.

The Man Who Thinks The U.S. Is Better Off As A Bunch Of Separate Countries | FiveThirtyEight

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Political Confessional: The Man Who Thinks The U.S. Is Better Off As A Bunch Of Separate Countries | FiveThirtyEight

This week we talked to Chris, a 35-year-old white man from rural Pennsylvania. Chris wrote in that he thought, “the U.S. should have a velvet divorce,” a reference to the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia — now the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic — in 1993. Chris went on: “I live in heavy Trump country but know he’s an idiot, but even Trump haters wouldn’t agree to break up the U.S. And certain areas (the South, the Midwest) would be horrible for minorities and destroy the environment. But it’s obvious the U.S. has run its course.”

This Article Won’t Change Your Mind – The Atlantic – Pocket

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This Article Won’t Change Your Mind – The Atlantic – Pocket

In a New York Times article called “The Real Story About Fake News Is Partisanship,” Amanda Taub writes that sharing fake news stories on social media that denigrate the candidate you oppose “is a way to show public support for one’s partisan team—roughly the equivalent of painting your face with team colors on game day.” This sort of information tribalism isn’t a consequence of people lacking intelligence or of an inability to comprehend evidence. Kahan has previously written that whether people “believe” in evolution or not has nothing to do with whether they understand the theory of it—saying you don’t believe in evolution is just another way of saying you’re religious. Similarly, a recent Pew study found that a high level of science knowledge didn’t make Republicans any more likely to say they believed in climate change, though it did for Democrats.