Donald Trump is so in love with his own voice, and so enamored with being interviewed by the great Bob Woodward, that Woodward got him to spin himself into a story so unlikely that it makes Brian Williams’ Iraq tall tale look truthful in comparison.

Woodward, the Washington Post reporter who brought down Nixon–who spoke directly to Deep Throat–tried to pin Trump down on when he plans to start building a coalition to unite the GOP (hint: never).

DT: The coalition building begins — I believe — when it’s decided who wins. Hopefully I’m going to win. The coalition building for me will be when I win. Vince Lombardi, I saw this. He was not a big man. And I was sitting in a place with some very, very tough football players. Big, strong football players. He came in — these are tough cookies — he came in, years ago — and I’ll never forget it, I was a young man. He came in, screaming, into this place. And screaming at one of these guys who was three times bigger than him, literally. And very physical, grabbing him by the shirt. Now, this guy could’ve whisked him away and thrown him out the window in two seconds. This guy — the player — was shaking. A friend of mine. There were four players, and Vince Lombardi walked in. He was angry. And he grabbed — I was a young guy — he grabbed him by the shirt, screaming at him, and the guy was literally. . . . And I said, wow. And I realized the only way Vince Lombardi got away with that was because he won. This was after he had won so much, okay? And when you have these coaches that are just as tough as him but they don’t win, there’s revolutions. Okay? Nobody. . . . But Vince Lombardi was able to win, and he got — I have never seen anything like it. It was such a vivid impression. You had this big powerful guy, and you had Vince Lombardi, and he grabbed him by the shirt and he was screaming at him, he was angry at him.

On the surface, this could be a plausible story. But (and Woodward may very well know this, but why not let Trump be Trump and talk himself into a trap?) those who know about Lombardi have reason to question it.

Todd Milewski shared in The Capital Times that WaPo’s David Maraniss was really dubious on Trump’s story. In several series of tweets, Maraniss, an associate editor, took Trump to task.

1) I am very dubious of Trump's Lombardi anecdote in his interview with Wash Post. Love to know when where and who. — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

2) Trump was just out of Wharton when Lombardi died in 1970. If it happened it would have had to have been years even before that. — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

3) Lombardi rarely behaved like that off the practice field or in front of strangers. — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

4) And if the point is that Lombardi would get away with anything because he won that is a complete mid understanding of him. — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

5) Winning wasn't everything or the only thing for Lombardi. He was toughest on his team when they won but played poorly. — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

6) It was the pursuit of excellence that obsessed Lombardi. — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

7) The only thing that Trump and Lombardi have in common is that they both went to Fordham University. — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

8) But Lombardi learned from the Jesuits that character is the will in action. — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

Maraniss apparently knows his Lombardi. Sure, it’s possible Trump saw what he saw over 50 years ago and didn’t embellish his facts. It’s possible, but knowing Trump, very, very unlikely.

Not only that, Maraniss chides Trump for totally missing the point of everything Lombardi believed–twisting it to match Trump’s own “winning” life mantra.

1) Pursuing Trump story that he saw Vince Lombardi scream at and grab a big football player – and this taught him winners could do that… — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

2) No NFL players in Trump cohort at NY Military Academy, Fordham or Penn that I could find…but… — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

3) His biographer D'Antonio mentions a high school baseball coach who loved Lombardi & posted on wall his most famous saying… — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

4) That being…WINNING ISNT EVERYTHING IT'S THE ONLY THING… — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

5) But Lombardi didn't coin the phrase, it was Red Sanders, & it was 1st uttered publicly by young actress in John Wayne movie… — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

6) Trouble Along the Way…and she was talking to a social worker played by Donna Reed… — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

7) Lombardi was obsessed with winning but not at any price. And he had a temper but went to mass every morning to seek forgiveness… — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

8) If Donald Trump did see Lombardi he apparently learned the wrong lessons from him in any case… — david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) April 3, 2016

In short, Lombardi is spinning in his grave to hear Trump tell this likely tall tale.

But the Branch Trumpidians will defend it to the death, because Trump cannot be wrong, even when he makes stuff up. Brian Williams is green with envy.

Oh, and “take that, Wisconsin!” because we know you love your heroes to be used by a crass billionaire to puff himself up.