ETHICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump ‘always’ wants to tell the truth, he claimed in an interview Wednesday [10-31-18] night, and does tell the truth ‘when I can.’ Trump has come under scrutiny throughout his presidency, but especially in recent weeks, for repeatedly spouting falsehoods and misleading statements. But despite evidence to the contrary, the president insisted on Wednesday that he tries to tell the truth…The Washington Post, which has made a project of tracking the president’s claims that they deem false, said in September that Trump had cleared 5,000 false or misleading statements during his nearly two years in office. In Trump’s foray into the world of politics was his vociferous support for the so-called ‘birther’ conspiracy, an unfounded claim that former President Barack Obama was ineligible to be president because he was not born a naturalized U.S. citizen. As president, Trump has faced continued claims of spreading misinformation as the midterm elections come to a close, especially on the issue of immigration. The White House has sought to use anti-immigrant rhetoric to drive Trump’s base of conservative voters to the polls, pointing to a caravan of asylum-seeking migrants making its way through southern Mexico and floating a long-shot executive order to end the practice of birthright citizenship.”
–Caitlin Oprysko, “Trump: ‘I do try’ to tell the truth,” Politico, November 1, 2018 9:13 am