Years ago, when I was in my 20’s, I met Bob Woodward. I was living in Washington, DC. And I was riding down a bike path that followed the Potomac River. Mr. Woodward was sitting on a bench. I stopped to rest and just started some small talk with him.
I did not know who he was, but he was kind enough to engage in a few minutes of conversation with me. I introduced myself by my first name and he told me his name was Bob. It was then that I had my first inkling as to who he was. I asked and he just said yes. I thanked him for the courage of his work. We then both went on our individual ways. I was left with the impression that he was not entirely comfortable being thanked for his reporting.
Nowadays, he is both the reporter and the celebrity. His latest book is based on a series of interviews he did with Donald Trump before Covid-19 was officially a pandemic. I do not need to fill in what was said during those interviews. By now, if you do not know, your head is in the sand too deep to hear anyway.
But, one thing Bob Woodward said resonated with me. I have said it, and so have several pundits over the years. Somehow, to hear it repeated from Bob Woodward gives it the gravitas it needs to maybe get some traction with the average American.
Donald Trump lies as a strategy. To him, a lie is just as good as the truth as long as it helps him reach whatever goal he has set. Plus, as we are all aware of by now, if you tell a lie enough times, people will see it as the truth.
It is a familiarity bias. He says it. Then other members of his administration say it. Soon enough, many Americans hear it and say, “I’ve heard that before somewhere. It must be true.”
The average American is not going to fact check the lie. By the time the press fact checks it, part of it has sunk in. This is especially true when you are prone to want to believe the lie. If the lie is just confirmation bias for you, why even fact check it in the first place?
This takes me back to my post yesterday on Americans being a generally uninformed electorate. Yes, it is work. Yes, sometimes it takes time. However, we will never fix our system if we allow this to continue.
Do not let any politician lie to you, whether it is strategic or just a “campaign promise.”