The subject of what is true and what is false is, weirdly, the most contentious issue at the center of our political battle. Donald Trump and his supporters are routinely blamed for being the sole cause for the continued devaluation of objective truth, an idea happily promoted by the Democrats and the legacy media.
Speaking with Scott Pelley on “60 Minutes” to promote “A Promised Land” — the 768 page first volume of his latest memoir — Barack Obama returned to throw his weight behind this very narrative. Saying “what we’ve seen is what some people call truth decay,” the former President argued that Trump had “accelerated” the view that “not only do we not have to tell the truth, but the truth doesn’t even matter.”
“What we've seen is what some people call truth decay. Something that's been accelerated by outgoing President Trump, the sense that not only do we not have to tell the truth, but the truth doesn't even matter,” says former President Obama. https://t.co/SemqJzMGMD pic.twitter.com/oaV7vGG3K2
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 16, 2020
Obama added to this criticism by arguing that Trump had disregarded basic institutional norms. The juiciest nugget of irony came, however, when Obama spoke of partisanship and division, saying, “You already saw some of these trends taking place early in my presidency, but I do think they’ve kept on getting worse,” with an almost comical refusal to consider that these trends were inflamed by his presidency.
“I am somebody who does not blame the current partisanship solely on Donald Trump or solely on social media,” says Barack Obama. “You already saw some of these trends taking place early in my presidency. But I do think they've kept on getting worse.” https://t.co/vE59pudewP pic.twitter.com/tpcy8FHKag
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 16, 2020
Perhaps the greatest falsehood promulgated by the Democrats, with the full and enthusiastic support of the legacy media, is the oxymoronic notion that Trump is both solely responsible for all that is bad in the country (or even, on occasion, the planet), and also that any issues which preceded Trump had nothing to do with his counterpart across the aisle.
This is, of course, far from the truth. Trump, for better or for worse, is simply a symptom of a desire to reject the 8 years of gaslighting conservatives endured under President Obama, whose hypocrisy and false claims continue to this day.
When he spoke of “truth decay,” Obama is permitted by the media to assume the premise that he is an objective and reliable authority on what is true and what is false. However, with even the merest shred of honesty, we find that Obama’s tenure as president is replete with examples of blatant and unapologetic falsehoods. The Obama who sporadically returns to reprimand us is the same Obama who lied about the NSA gathering millions of Americans’ private data, saying, “There is no spying on Americans.” Not only is this famously untrue, Obama made this proclamation on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Obama’s forced and calculated merging of the political and the cultural only furthered divisions, and eventually culminated in the election of Donald Trump. “You already saw some of these trends taking place early in my presidency,” remember.
What about his claim in July 2016 that “it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book,” used to promote a swathe of anti-gun policies? And how can anyone forget 2009’s “If you like your doctor, you’ll be able to keep your doctor?” That was eventually declared by PolitiFact to be the lie of the year.
Not only did “truth decay” start after 8 years of cavity-inducing Obama lies, the same can be said of the disregard for “basic institutional norms.” Where was the deep concern for institutional norms when the Obama administration ignored the U.S. Constitution and waged war in Libya without Congressional approval? Where was this love for institutional norms when his IRS targeted conservative groups? Where was the combined love for truth and institutional norms when Obama targeted journalists by using “the 1917 Espionage Act with unprecedented vigor, prosecuting more people under that law for leaking sensitive information to the public than all previous administrations combined?”
The answer is simple. Obama doesn’t actually care about the truth or America’s institutions, as he’d have you believe. Barack Obama cares most about keeping his mythical and messianic legacy alive. Luckily for his adoring truth-decayed worshipers, Obama’s “A Promised Land” is there to help.
Ian Haworth is host of The Ian Haworth Show and The Truth in 60 Seconds. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.