'Fake' White House apologies for real Trump lies

President Trump in the last few days has demanded that reporters at ABC, CNN and The Washington Post be fired for committing “fake news.” The offenses ranged from incorrect dates on ABC and CNN stories that made them seem more significant than they were, to a photo that the Post’s David Weigel incorrectly said was evidence of a less than “packed" crowd at Trump’s speech in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday.

Trump demanded an apology and a retraction from Weigel on Saturday afternoon. Three minutes later, Weigel tweeted: “Sure thing: I apologize.” He said he had deleted the photo and explained, “Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner.” Apparently that wasn’t good enough; an hour later Trump tweeted: “FAKE NEWS, he should be fired.”

Here’s a thought experiment. What if Trump acted more like the media? ABC News made the most egregious error, imposed a four-week suspension on the offending reporter, and issued the most fulsome, contrite apology. That’s the model most appropriate for Trump. So, imagine:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by President Trump regarding a report that he still questions the authenticity of Barack Obama’s birth certificate:

I deeply regret and apologize for the serious error I made in a private conversation. While President Obama and I have deep differences about how to make America great again, I want to assure this nation that I no longer have any doubts about his citizenship. He is an American and a patriot.

###

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by President Trump on his assertions of rampant voter fraud:

I deeply regret and apologize for the serious error I made when I insisted numerous times that up to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 election, denying me a popular vote victory, and that there was “serious voter fraud” in California, New Hampshire and Virginia. Election officials and researchers have assured me that based on their investigations and studies, this is not the case. The facts presented by these experts have convinced me that fraud is a minor problem in our elections, and I am disbanding the taxpayer-financed commission I set up to address it.

###

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by President Trump on his assertions about the tax bill he hopes to sign:

I deeply regret and apologize for the serious factual error I made when I characterized my tax bill as the “biggest tax cut in U.S. history.” In fact, credit for the largest tax cut would go to Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush. I was also wrong to say the bill is “not good for me.” I would benefit from elimination of the alternative minimum tax and lower taxes on pass-through businesses, and my children would benefit from elimination or reduction of the estate tax.

###

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement by President Trump on his record to date:

I deeply regret and apologize for the serious error I made when I said in a "non-braggadocious way" that “there has never been a 10-month president that has accomplished what we have accomplished.” That was an oversight given the crises faced by some of my predecessors, from Lincoln, FDR and Truman to George W. Bush and Obama, not to mention George Washington’s challenge of creating a country from scratch. Let me add that my press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was wrong to say it is “laughable” that “Obama thinks he has anything to do with the success of where the economy is right now." I am suspending Sanders for four weeks. While I would not have led us out of the Great Recession the same way Obama did, it is inarguable that he and Bush saved the auto industry and that Obama left me a healthy economy to build on.

###

Personally, I deeply regret that no reader has the attention span to read these little works of fiction for each instance of Trump purveying “fake news.” The Post says Trump made 1,628 false or misleading claims in his first 298 days in office, including what lead fact-checker Glenn Kessler calls “false claims” about crowd size. To be exact, “Trump has lied 22 times this year about crowds,” the Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale tweeted. “I’ve had to invent a separate Crowds category on the fact-check page. He’s never corrected any of them.”

Nearly half the Trump statements examined by Politifact have been rated “false” or “pants on fire”; 21% were “mostly false.”

At the Pensacola speech that Trump rightly claimed was packed, he wrongly asserted that black homeownership had just hit its highest level ever. “Not true or even close,” AP fact-checkers wrote. Oh, and the U.S. does not have a trade deficit with Canada, it has a trade surplus, they added. And, obviously, “Trump's first-year legislative record pales next to that of a variety of presidents (Franklin Roosevelt, with his New Deal, signed 14 historic laws in his first 100 days).”

If Trump understood journalism at all, he’d know that no real journalist deliberately makes a mistake; that is what we fear most, what keeps us awake at night. Nor does he understand that his attacks, falsehoods and secrecy are inspiring great journalism. The profession I love is going to emerge from the Trump era stronger than ever. Unfortunately, that will not be true of the presidency or, I fear, our country.

Jill Lawrence is commentary editor of USA TODAY and author of The Art of the Political Deal: How Congress Beat the Odds and Broke Through Gridlock. Follow her on Twitter: @JillDLawrence

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