The Problem with a Lying President

Rick Klein and Shushannah Walshe: “This is not normal, and this cannot be viewed as acceptable, or just another Twitter rant. The accusations leveled by President Trump over the weekend, suggesting that his predecessor committed a federal crime for political purposes by ordering him wiretapped, has troubling implications no matter the ultimate facts.”

“In the (apparently unlikely) event that Trump is proven right about something President Obama did, the consequences are obvious enough. If it turned out there were properly obtained surveillance efforts – without Obama’s involvement – at Trump Tower and of Trump associates, that means a federal intelligence judge thought there were important national-security reasons for those wiretaps. And if Trump is wrong – if the president just falsely accused an ex-president of a “sick” effort to rig an election – how can those who need to or even want to trust the president’s word do so going forward? Now, with a real crisis developing out of North Korea and who knows what’s next, is one of those times where it’s critical that the president’s words be taken literally, if he ever hopes to be taken seriously when it counts.”

First Read: “This all raises a question: What happens when a president cries wolf so many times? Can anyone believe him — even on matters like wars, national tragedies, and natural disasters? As NBC’s Benjy Sarlin wrote over the weekend, Trump alleged what would be an historic scandal about Obama, and barely anyone reacted with urgency.”