Kristi Noem is a liar, but so is everyone else who keeps propping up the Liar in Chief.
I have written extensively for years about the corrosive effects of Donald Trump’s lies and how they are infecting entire populations of people and now the world order. And I have warned there are deadly consequences to these lies.
I am not alone. Many others — journalists and politicians and pastors — have issued similar warnings that have gone unheeded.
Mark Wingfield
Now two Minneapolis citizens are dead in the snow and those who could not be bothered with the culture of lying are scrambling to justify their indifference. The cheapest route is to tell more lies.
Recall the words of Jesus: “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
Noem, who is Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security, stood before cameras yesterday and told a series of bald-faced lies:
This individual showed up to impede a law enforcement operation and assaulted our officers. They responded according to their training and took action to defend the officer’s life and those of the public around him. And I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign. This is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons and are using them to assault law enforcement officers.
Based on numerous videos and eyewitness accounts, there is zero evidence — not a shred — that Pretti in any way assaulted anyone. Instead, he sought to protect a woman shoved to the ground by one of her goons. No federal agent’s life was in peril due to Pretti, but they shot him dead anyway.
“No federal agent’s life was in peril due to Pretti, but they shot him dead anyway.”
Greg Bovino, who is Trump’s vicious leader of the lawless immigrant roundup, also stood before cameras yesterday and told a series of bald-faced lies:
During this operation, an individual approached U.S. Border Patrol agents with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun.
This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.
Again, based on numerous videos and eyewitness accounts, there is zero evidence — not a shred — that Pretti approached Border Patrol agents with his legally registered weapon which was holstered and then taken from him. And there is zero evidence Pretti sought to do even minimal damage to anyone or to “massacre” law enforcement.
Bovino is full of bull.
Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s cruel anti-immigrant campaign, declared:
A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.
Here’s where the blame shifting starts. Not only does Miller lie, he deflects from the evil of his own peers by blaming Minnesota’s Democratic leaders for opposing the terrors he has unleashed.
Thankfully, the NRA sort of responded to attacks on the Second Amendment, even though they joined Miller in deflecting blame on Democrats. And let us remember the facts: This gentle-spirited ICU nurse at a VA hospital never unsheathed his legally registered weapon.
If gun-rights advocates were consistent, they would reject the claim that the NRA’s most ardent supporters are criminals. But consistency doesn’t matter when you’re this far down the rabbit hole of lies.
The question, once again, is whether those who have the power to do something about this will overcome their fears of Trump targeting them and do what they have sworn to do: Trump and his cadre of liars must be impeached and tried for their own crimes.
Historian Heather Cox Richardson said it plainly last night: “Elected Republicans could stop this TONIGHT … if they wanted to. … Sixteen Republicans could vote to join Dems and put a stop to this right now.”
Are there 16 Republicans in Congress who value truth?
Mark Wingfield serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global. He is the author of Honestly: Telling the Truth About the Bible and Ourselves.
Related articles:
The deadly result of excusing Trump’s lies | Opinion by Mark Wingfield
The day after the public execution of Alex Pretti | Opinion by Mara Richards Bim
The TheoBros are getting the war they want in Minnesota | Opinion by Rick Pidcock
Your government is lying to you | Opinion by Brent Newberry