Just as there was no pivot in style or substance from the primary to the general election, there so far appears to be no change in modus operandi for President Donald Trump after his inauguration. He’s still chumming the waters with provocative rhetoric and little to no concern for the truth. From Fox News:
[Trump] claimed at a meeting with congressional leaders Monday that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton in last November’s election because between three million and five million “illegals” cast ballots, multiple sources told Fox News.
It is not the first time Trump has made the unverified claims about illegal immigrants casting votes for Clinton, the Democratic nominee. In late November, Trump tweeted that he had “won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” At the time, multiple law enforcement sources told Fox News that there was no evidence for Trump’s claims.
Of course, Trump requires no evidence. He isn’t trying to secure a judgment in a court of law. He’s trying to implant a myth in the political ether. It doesn’t matter whether his claim proves true or not. It need only accomplish two goals. First, as an exercise in trolling, it must infuriate Trump’s enemies. Second, as a piece of campaign rhetoric, it must animate his supporters. Those are jobs for which truth need not apply.
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