U.S. President Donald Trump is being slammed for “dishonesty on top of dishonesty” after the president repeated an oft-debunked claim that he was once named Michigan’s “Man of the Year” — an award that many believe did not exist.
Trump has repeated the story frequently in the past and did so again on Wednesday when talking about his popularity in the state. Trump had threatened to deny federal funding to Michigan after the state sent out applications for absentee ballots for all 7.7 million registered voters in the state. As CNN noted, Trump was asked by a reporter whether he was concerned that it sent a bad message to threaten to withhold funding at a time when the state is facing a flood emergency. The president then bragged about his popularity in Michigan and referenced the award.
“No, I’m not. I’m — no, I’m not concerned at all. We’re going to help Michigan. Michigan is a great state,” Trump said. “I’ve gotten tremendous business to go to Michigan. Michigan is one of the reasons I ran. I was honored in Michigan long before I thought about — I was honored as the Man of the Year in Michigan at a big event.”
As the report noted, Trump has told versions of the “Man of the Year” award several times since 2016, with a series of reports pointing out that there was no such award.
As The Inquisitr reported last year, an investigation from Detroit news station WXYZ found that Trump was likely referring to an event outside of Detroit where he had been honored at a Republican dinner, making a keynote address and later receiving a framed copy of the Gettysburg Address. Michigan Congressman Dave Trott, who was at the event, said Trump recalled it again years later and referenced the framed gift as a “Man of the Year” award — and Trott said local officials were too polite to correct Trump.
The fact-checking report from CNN blasted Trump for what it called “dishonesty on top of dishonesty,” noting that Trump has been caught in the past telling mistruths in order to boost his self-image. These included a fake Time magazine with him on the cover that had been on display at his company’s resorts. As the report noted, Trump revived the story this week after he was pressed for making false claims about Michigan sending out absentee ballots, when really the state had only sent applications.
“Trump delivered the latest rendition of the Man of the Year story as he was being pressed about the false story he told about Michigan earlier in the day, when he wrongly claimed Michigan’s secretary of state had sent actual absentee ballots to all voters (it was just ballot applications) and that she had broken the law (no),” the report noted.
