The third and final debate is now over. Donald Trump’s performance continued to sputter throughout regardless of the scandal du jour he has been hit with by his opponents and the moderators. Why? Because Trump has failed to prepare to realistically approach almost any domestic or international issue. Instead, he attempts to hide with his use of hyperbole.
Here is a brief example. In the third debate, Trump claimed that “nobody knows” about Obama’s role in the deportation of over 2.5 million immigrants since 2009. Obama’s deportations have been frequently noted by the press. The president even earned the nickname “Deporter in Chief.” One can hardly say no one knows what President Obama has been up to if he earned himself a clever nick name.
Trump then called the jobs report released earlier this month “a terrible jobs report.” It is unclear what Trump means anymore when he says “terrible,” but economists found the report encouraging.
The issue with hyperbole is that it masks the fact that the candidate does not have a workable answer to the question at hand. Such frequent use also shows that Trump knows how to act on camera. He entertains with fanciful notions that things have never been worse and insurance premiums “are going to go up over 100 percent” next year.
It is a solid tactic for dodging and distracting from incompetence; just like his plans for the economy, which could jeopardize our trade agreements and reduce the number of jobs, causing people to seek quick cash loans to solve their problems. However, it also sets a dangerous precedent for politicians who speak with the media.
Donald Trump is not alone in his excessive use of hyperbole. In moments that seem so far away now, Ted Cruz called Mitch McConnell a “liar.” Mike Huckabee said that President Obama “is so naïve that he would trust the Iranians and he would take the Israelis and basically march them to the door of the oven.” In other words, Huckabee called Obama a Nazi.
There was also the “basket of deplorables” incident. However, Clinton’s mistake proves a point. Once hyperbole takes over and reaches a point where a national figure feels that he can refer to a sitting president as a Nazi, then rigorous language tends to fly out the window.
After all, if one side can do it, why should the other follow suit?
One of the things that the hopeful can look forward to from November 9 onward is the constant association with hyperbolic language with spectacular failure that was the Donald Trump campaign. It has already started. The word “tremendous” will never have the same meaning again.
Trump’s constant use of hyperbole should serve as a warning to current and future politicians. Those who only speak in hyperbole are not in good company. The hope is that this political tactic will forever more be so closely associated with Donald Trump that political figures take it upon themselves not only to do their homework but to communicate facts in a way that they can accurately represent them while not boring Americans to tears.
Facts and figures may not grab the imagination, but at least they better represent the truth. The truth may be boring, but a democracy without truth is actually deplorable.