Former President Donald Trump told an entirely fictional story on Saturday about how he had supposedly outwitted his Democratic opponents by releasing āthe tapeā of theĀ 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that was a key factor inĀ Trumpās first impeachment.
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Facts First:Ā Trumpās story is a complete fabrication. No tape of his call with Zelensky was ever released; Pelosi could not possibly have been angry with her allies after hearing a tape of the call because she has never heard a tape of the call. In fact, as of nearly five years after the July 2019 call, there isĀ noĀ known US recordingĀ of the conversation. What Trumpās White House actually released in September 2019 was aĀ rough written transcriptĀ of the call ā whichĀ corroborated, rather than contradicted, aĀ government whistleblowerās central allegationsĀ about what Trump had said.Ā Pelosi spokesperson Aaron Bennett said Sunday that Trumpās story is āfact-free nonsense.ā
It doesnāt matter. His base will believe it, even though it is verifiably false. Trump has proven that he is incapable of sticking to the truth once he latches on to a convenient lie, even if it costs him millions of dollars to keep lying.
The only question is whether enough of the rest of the country will find a reason to go along, too.