CBS News today uses an increasingly common description of a Trump falsehood:
Citing no evidence, Pres. Trump claims at address to troops that news outlets are not reporting terror attacks https://t.co/4KSzwmArQc pic.twitter.com/9Uf1gA8kjN
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 6, 2017
Barton Gellman is not impressed:
You can’t go with “citing no evidence” here. It’s not as if there might be. Tens of thousands of stories prove this a preposterous lie. https://t.co/P57AdMxGE2
— Barton Gellman (@bartongellman) February 6, 2017
So here’s a good question: If someone says something with no evidence, is it a lie? Please don’t try to evade the question with a knowing reference to On Bullshit, either. Let’s assume—because I’m a charitable guy—that Trump isn’t affirmatively aware that there are no terrorist attacks that the media has ignored, and is deliberately saying the opposite. Let’s assume, instead, that he just doesn’t know, and said it because it sounded good.
Is that a lie?
