Donald Trump and Joe Biden have a lot more in common than either would care to acknowledge, including that their detractors describe each as a threat to democracy. As this column has long maintained, that’s an utterly foolish notion because our system of government is so strong that it is eminently tamper-proof. In other words, Trump, Biden, or anyone else couldn’t dismantle government even if s/he wanted to.
But there’s another similarity – quite an unflattering one – these two presidents share: their critics routinely refer to them as liars. And they’re not wrong. I proclaim unequivocally that all lying is bad; I absolutely abhor it. Yet, there are different types of lies, and different consequences accordingly. Accordingly, it can be worthwhile to dissect lies and compare them. Here, we may see a difference insofar as why some lies, compared to others, are the lesser of two evils.

Democrats have been successful for the most part in attracting Never Trumpers – voters who, regardless of party, under no circumstances will cast a ballot for the former president. Part of their narrative has been to portray Biden as Trump’s complete opposite. If Trump’s a habitual liar, then Biden’s the flagbearer of sincerity. It’s precisely why so many Biden supporters failed to detect his cognitive freefall until the June 27 debate, because their eyes and ears showed them only slight glimpses of decline, which they overlooked on balance, because in their hearts they believed Biden “is such a good man!” Without delving deep into ‘Hunter Biden laptop’ type of stories to contradict that notion, let’s just focus on his purported honesty.
As I’ve long written, Biden based his entire 2020 campaign on a lie. He launched his candidacy by telling the American people that although he was happy being retired, he felt he had to step up and save America when Donald Trump described Neo-Nazis as “very fine people.” The short of it is, Trump didn’t. I describe that thoroughly, with extensive resources, in my book Trumped-Up Charges!. To put it succinctly, Trump said there were very fine people on both sides of the debate about whether Confederate statues should be taken down as a rebuke to slavery, or retained because history – blemishes and all – ought to be preserved. In other words, Trump wasn’t referring to those with sheets, hoods, and torches as “very fine people.”
Then, there’s Biden’s technical truth-telling misinformation: he routinely explains how he revived a flailing economy and created record numbers of new jobs, without pointing out the obvious: Trump’s economy was fantastic before the pandemic, which subsided as Biden took office. The lockdowns ended and people went back to work. Duh. Because of those two examples, it’s very hard for me to listen to the president and be inclined to believe anything that comes out of his mouth.
Turning to Trump, he lies too, and in droves. But he admits to lying – or heavily embellishing stories, as he calls it, to make them more interesting – and we’ve known this since at least 1987, when he spelled it out in his book ‘The Art of the Deal’. Trump will make outrageous claims, such as that PHIs (Persons Here Illegally) – whom he likens to Hannibal Lecter – are pouring over our border and killing “hundreds of thousands” of Americans. If pressed, Trump might explain it away by suggesting that by “killing” he means they’re not only murdering, but killing through drug addiction, killing jobs, housing, education, etc., which then makes the claim far more plausible. But Trump is less interested in being factually pristine than in delivering a compelling message. Again, though I condemn it and would never do it myself, consider this example to illustrate why it’s useful.
I’ve lived on a one-way street for years. A couple of times a day, a car wanting to take a shortcut will drive the wrong way. Thankfully, I’ve never seen an accident or even a close case, as it is a quiet block with little traffic and cars travel at a slow speed. Nonetheless, it would be nice if the problem went away. Here’s how Trump would handle it: “About 50 cars a day, or several hundred, maybe even a couple of thousand some people say, drive the wrong way on that street. People have lost their lives. Cars are being wrecked, even ramming into houses and hitting people on their front lawns, I’m told. Puppies, kittens, and worst of all, young children at play, risk life and limb every time they cross the street. This is a disaster. We don’t have a street, folks, we don’t have a street. And if we don’t have a street, we don’t have a city, we don’t have a community…”

Tall tales for sure. But, you know what? Trump’s incessant clamoring might change things. Maybe even compel the city to install large, ominous signs warning of severe fines for driving the wrong way on that street. Maybe cameras. Maybe a police car to monitor the street closely. I wouldn’t tell such lies, even to get what I want, but if Trump was my neighbor, I’d surely be grateful for the end result.
Now we have a new character in the cast: Kamala Harris. To be fair, I haven’t paid that much attention to her. She was largely invisible in a job that’s rather inconsequential to begin with. My early impressions are that she’s substantively vapid and her sporadic cackle makes her sound demented (I know she’s not, but it’s entertaining to muse). Now I’ll pay closer attention to determine whether she lies. If she doesn’t, I’ll be the first to praise her.