In addition to giving a false alternative to the GOP establishment's voodoo economics that have wreaked havoc on the middle and working classes, Donald Trump remains in the lead in the GOP presidential contest because he has no problem telling lies that play to the base's prejudices. Moreover, since much of the GOP base no (especially the Christofascists) longer lives in touch with objective reality, Trump's lies and distortion are taken as gospel truth. Nowhere do Trump's lies resonate more with the rabid dogs of the GOP base than when it comes to anti-Muslim lies and accusations. They fit perfectly with the base's hatred towards non-whites, non-Christians, and those easily described as "other." Yesterday, Trump floated yet another lie to play to the hysteria and bigotry of the GOP base. Media Matters looks at Trump's shameless demagoguery. Here are highlights:
On CBS' Face the Nation, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump promoted the bogus theory that the wives and families of the 9/11 hijackers "absolutely knew what was happening" and were flown "back to Saudi Arabia" days before the attack as part of his call for extra scrutiny and surveillance of Muslim communities in the United States.Trump is dangerous and there are many in the GOP who are ready to put on their jackboots and to trample on civil rights - first of Muslims and then many of the rest of us. I often accuse Vladimir Putin of using Adolph Hitler's play book. Now Trump appears to be doing the same thing.
On November 21, Trump falsely claimed that he watched "thousands and thousands" of Muslims in Jersey City, New Jersey cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The remark was rated as a "Pants on Fire!" lie by PolitiFact multiple times, but right-wing media rallied around Trump's misinformation.
In the wake of the deadly December 2 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California that left 14 people dead and many more injured, several Republican politicians and conservative outlets have advocated increased profiling of Muslims living in the United States. On the December 6 edition of CBS' Face the Nation, Trump called for increased surveillance of Muslim families in the U.S., suggested that the family of the San Bernardino shooters was lying about not having forewarning of the attack, and was allowed to push his conspiracy theory about the 9/11 hijackers unabated, despite that fact that it has been known for many years that all but one of the hijackers were unmarried.
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