Entertaining Our Way into Falsehoods

March 7, 2018 Topic: Presidency Media Terrorism Region: United States Blog Brand: Paul Pillar

Entertaining Our Way into Falsehoods

None of this context excuses Trump’s own considerable responsibility for tearing down respect for truth.  But a foundation for his flagrant falsifying is the fact that many people would rather be entertained, no matter how false is the source of their entertainment, than to confront truth that is boring or unsatisfying or that requires effort to understand.

Image: U.S. President Donald Trump sits at his desk as reporters exit after he signed sweeping tax overhaul legislation into law in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. December 22, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst