Pathological Liars: The Trump Archetype and Its Hilarious Impact on Society
By Dr. Lauro Amezcua-Patino, FAPA
Ah, pathological liars. We all know one. Maybe it’s that friend who swears they’ve been working out (yet somehow their waistline tells a different story), or perhaps that guy at work who always talks about his “supermodel girlfriend.”
But then, there’s the superstar of pathological liars — the one who took this questionable life skill and turned it into a global spectacle. Enter Donald J. Trump. The man who not only normalized lying but made it so exquisite that we’re now stuck living in a bizarre alternate universe where facts are “fake news,” and the truth is whatever happens to sound best at the moment.
The Nature of Pathological Lying
So, what exactly is a pathological liar? It’s someone who lies… all the time. Big lies, small lies, lies for breakfast, lies for dessert. They don’t even need a good reason for it — just lie because it’s Tuesday. These folks can’t seem to help themselves. And the scary part? They start believing their nonsense after a while. Trump fits this mold to a tee. But instead of lying to get out of speeding tickets or impress strangers at a bar, he did it on the world’s biggest stage. And we all got a front-row seat to the circus.
Trump: The Picasso of Lies
Now, Trump isn’t your average, run-of-the-mill liar. Oh no. He’s the Da Vinci of deceit, the Picasso of prevarication. During his presidency, independent fact-checkers lost track of how many lies the man told. And no, we’re not talking about little white lies, like when you say you “love” your friend’s terrible cooking. We’re talking lies that are so absurd that conspiracy theories make them look plausible.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Remember when Trump said he had “the largest inauguration crowd in history”? Yeah, photos exist. We all saw the sea of empty spaces, but nope — alternative facts, people! Or how about when he claimed that Mexico would happily foot the bill for his wall? I am still waiting on that one, Donald.
Lies as a Reflex
Here’s the thing: Trump’s lying isn’t just an occasional slip-up. For him, it’s a reflex, like sneezing. It doesn’t matter if the truth would make him look better — he will lie anyway. Need an example? Sure. At a rally, he once said, “Women love me.” A glance at any post-2020 election results or… well, any women’s march since 2016 might suggest otherwise. But who cares about facts when you’ve got a gut feeling?
When Lies Get Dangerous
Now, pathological lying is mostly annoying in regular folks. But when the guy with the nuclear codes does it? That’s a whole other ball game. Trump’s lies didn’t just damage reputations or careers; they nearly tanked democracy—case in point: the 2020 election. Trump kept insisting the election was “stolen” with no evidence, but that didn’t stop his supporters from drinking the Kool-Aid and storming the Capitol on January 6th. Just imagine the brainstorming session for that one: “Hey, let’s storm the Capitol because Trump tweeted that it’s a good idea.” What could go wrong?
The Fallout: Society in Shambles
Thanks to Trump’s tall tales, society is more divided than ever. We’ve got entire swaths of people who think the news is a lie, doctors are part of a global conspiracy, and elections are rigged — unless, of course, their guy wins. It’s no wonder the term “alternative facts” became a thing. We now live in a world where up is down, left is right, and if you squint hard enough, maybe the Earth is flat.
Well, the damage is done, but there’s hope… right? Maybe? It will take a lot of work to untangle the web of lies that ensnare half of the country. But hey, if we’ve learned anything from Trump’s tenure, facts might not matter, but reality always wins in the end. Just ask anyone who showed up to his “biggest inauguration ever.”
And who could forget the time Trump warned that immigrants were not only a threat to national security but, in his own words, “They are eating your cats, your dogs, your pets!” Yes, really. Why stop at just undermining democratic norms when you can toss in a healthy dose of wild, baseless fear-mongering about your beloved household pets being devoured by mysterious outsiders? Naturally, many of his supporters took this claim as seriously as they might a tabloid headline at the grocery store, while the rest of us were left wondering if this was a fever dream or part of a stand-up routine gone wrong.
Cultural Shift: Lying Is Cool Now!
Thanks to Trump, we’ve entered a world where lying isn’t just tolerated — it’s celebrated. It’s not just a habit for politicians anymore; it’s a strategy. Trump didn’t just blur the lines between fact and fiction — he blew them up, tossed the pieces into the wind, and convinced half the country that it’s all fake news anyway. And let’s be real: a lot of politicians took notes. They watched Trump lie about everything, from the size of his inauguration crowd to wild conspiracy theories about stolen elections. They thought, “Well, if he can do it and still have a political career, why shouldn’t I?” Now, we’re stuck with a fresh crop of candidates who lie as naturally as they breathe, confident that their version of reality will stick if they repeat it enough.
Here’s the thing: we’re not just talking about little lies to get out of trouble. No, these are big, shameless, in-your-face lies. We’re talking about politicians telling you the sky is green while you’re staring up at the blue sky, and somehow, people are nodding along like it makes sense. It’s almost like a weird social experiment. The truth? It’s become an inconvenience. People aren’t just ignoring it anymore — they’re running from it, actively choosing to live in echo chambers where facts don’t matter and feelings dictate reality. If it sounds right, it must be right. Welcome to the post-truth era.
And the craziest part? It’s working. Why bother debating policy or proving facts when you can make stuff up, say it with enough confidence, and boom — you’ve got an entire base ready to believe every word? We’ve turned political discourse into a bizarre version of “Survivor,” where whoever lies the best wins. The more outrageous the claim, the more attention you get. Remember when Trump warned us that immigrants were out there eating our pets? Sure, it sounded ridiculous, but for some reason, people believed it. That’s where we are now — living in a reality where even the most absurd lies are taken seriously by someone.
But here’s the deal: if we keep letting this happen and allow lies to go unchecked, we’re heading for disaster. Our democracy depends on a shared understanding of truth. Without that, we’re just people shouting over each other with no common ground. It’s not just about “catching” politicians in a lie — it’s about holding them accountable and demanding more. Otherwise, we’re stuck in a world where facts are negotiable, and whoever yells the loudest gets to rewrite reality. And trust me, that’s not a world you want to live in — unless you like the idea of your dog ending up on the menu.
A Cynical Generation of Truth-Dodgers
And here’s the real kicker: kids growing up in this circus might think this is normal. Imagine having to explain to the next generation that there was once a time when we cared about honesty, but then a reality TV star became president, and suddenly the truth went out the window. “Well, you see, kids, back in the day, we had these things called facts, and they mattered… until one day, a guy who used to fire people on TV decided to run for president and convinced half the country that lying was just another version of truth.” How’s that for a bedtime story? It’s like telling your kids about Santa Claus, except instead of a jolly man with gifts, it’s a guy with a Twitter account and a laundry list of fabrications. Try wrapping your head around that.
Now, consider what that does to the next generation’s sense of right and wrong. We’re creating a world where kids might believe that lying is just how you get ahead, where facts are flexible, and the truth is whatever gets you the most likes. It’s like we’re teaching them to play by a whole new set of rules: the louder, the more outlandish the lie, the better. What’s next? “Hey, little Jimmy, did you finish your homework?” “Sure, I did it bigly, the best homework ever.” And if we don’t do something about this now, we’re handing the future over to a generation that thinks integrity is optional as long as you can spin a good story. If we don’t course-correct, we’re setting up our kids to live in a world where truth isn’t just endangered — it’s extinct.
So, Can We Fix This?
Well, the damage is done, but there’s hope… right? Maybe? It will take a colossal effort to untangle the web of lies that has ensnared half the country, trapping them in an alternate reality where facts are as flexible as a politician’s promises. But don’t worry, we’ve been here before — ask anyone who believed in Trump’s “biggest inauguration ever.” Reality has a funny way of showing up, no matter how much spin you throw at it. You can shout from the rooftops that the crowd was the largest in history, but the truth laughs in your face when you’ve got photos showing a sea of empty spaces. The problem is, we’ve now got a chunk of society that sees those empty spaces and thinks, “Yeah, but what if they’re just hiding the real crowd?” We’ve gone so far down the rabbit hole that some folks can’t longer recognize daylight.
Reality does win in the end… right? Eventually, facts have to matter again. Maybe when people start seeing the consequences of living in a post-truth world — like when policies built on lies start crumbling or when trust in institutions completely evaporates — there’ll be a reckoning. After all, you can only pretend for so long before reality knocks on your door and demands to be let in. Sure, we can all play along with the fantasy for a while, but the truth is like gravity: you can ignore it, but it will still pull you back down to Earth eventually. If we want to change anything, we’ve got to start valuing truth again — because as fun as it is to live in a world where you get to make up your own facts, we all know deep down that the natural world has a way of reminding us who’s actually in charge. So, will we keep pretending, or are we finally ready to let reality win?