Bob Garfield, editor-at-large at MediaPost, tore into Donald Trump Wednesday over his “surreal” denial of facts, arguing Trump “is living in either a sea of his intentional lies or some sort of fantasy land that is genuinely terrifying.”
Speaking with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, Garfield referred to Trump’s erratic first week in office, arguing it’s “hard to know whether we’re experiencing a very bad Salvador Dali or a very good George Orwell.”
“There’s double think, there are alternate facts,” Garfield began. “There’s a general surreal air to everything that is taking place, based on the fact that the president is living in either a sea of his intentional lies or some sort of fantasy land. That is genuinely terrifying.”
Garfield noted “government policy is being forged” by Trump, “mainly through executive order, or what the GOP until a week ago called ‘tyranny.’”
Arguing Trump is “lying his way through” the presidency,” Garfield pointed out that Trump lied about his inauguration crowd size, his rift with the CIA and whether or not it rained during his inauguration—all in his first full day.
“He denied the rain!” Garfield replied, incredulously. “He denied the rain!”
Parroting an argument set for by some political journalists, Hayes argued, “it’s not a lie” if the president “believes” what he’s saying, insisting a lie requires specific intent.
“We’ll that’s scary,” Garfield replied. “I’m glad then that he’s only watching cable news because imagine if he were watching ‘Paranormal Activity.’”
Garfield wondered what’s more “terrifying and potentially catastrophic:” a president who has no regard for the truth, or one that doesn’t “understand the difference between truth and falsity.”
Watch the video below, via MSNBC:
