In an interview broadcast Friday, former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci said that President Trump lies “because he thinks it’s fun,” The Hill reports.
“He does it because he thinks it’s fun and he also does it because he likes the fact that you guys are talking about it,” Scaramucci explained to CNN.
The former White House Director of Communications added that the president frequently makes false and misleading statements because a portion of the population gets a kick out of him doing so. However, according to Scaramucci, the president really does not need to lie because he has “done a great job” as commander-in-chief.
“There’s a very large group of people inside of our population that when he does it and the media talks about it, they laugh. By and large, he’s done a great job. Why do you have to tell lies?”
As The Hill notes, Scaramucci’s White House tenure was brief and turbulent. He was ousted after just 10 days for insulting then-chief strategist Steve Bannon and then-White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.
Many have accused President Donald Trump of frequently lying and making false statements, with some going as far as arguing that the president is a pathological liar. According to an analysis published by The Washington Post in March, Trump has made more than 9,000 false or misleading claims since taking office.
Furthermore, according to the analysis, Trump is set to outpace his usual daily quota, since he appears to be doubling down on false claims in 2019. The Washington Post described the president’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) speech as “emblematic of his version of the truth,” given that Trump’s speech at the conference was laced with exaggerations and falsehoods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs0n3kFPHgU
During his fiery CPAC speech, Trump stated (131 times, no less) that his administration had passed the biggest tax cut in history, which is not true. He also said that the border wall is already being built a false claim that he echoed 126 times.
Prominent Democrats have consistently called Trump out for frequently — and seemingly habitually — lying. During a CNN Town Hall, Democratic presidential candidate and perceived front-runner Bernie Sanders said that he will “bring a lie detector” to a debate with Trump, assuming he wins the nomination.
An #APFactCheck examines where President Trump missed the mark this week on immigration, health care, his family history, Puerto Rico and more. https://t.co/h0DWqmRSQp
— AP Fact Check (@APFactCheck) April 6, 2019
But it is not only President Trump that is frequently accused of lying. His administration — according to critics — has come under fire.
“Is there anything this administration won’t lie about? And that Trump supporters won’t swallow?” asked The Los Angeles Times in a 2018 column.
