Do liars like Trump come to believe their own lies?

[captain queeg]

There was a link to all the BS statements he’s made about 9/11 and his supposed involvement. if he says that often enough does he actually believe it?

[Thomas Hurt]

1. not sure it matters, he just says whatever he thinks will get him attention and money.

[elleng]

2. As 'unstable' as he is,

hard to know what if anything he 'believes.'

[Guilded Lilly]

3. I don't think what comes out of his mouth is because he is unstable...

It is because he is a life long pathological liar sociopath with no conscience, integrity or decency.
He is the racist, bigoted wretch he is because he has never been held accountable for anything in his entire life.

[lunatica]

4. Trump has decided there is no such thing as truth

Unless it comes out of his mouth. And what everyone else believes is of no importance. He decides.

Haven’t you noticed how he accepts the most insane praise, no matter how obvious it is that the person doesn’t believe it? To Trump what he wants to hear is the truth.

[moondust]

5. No.

Last edited Tue Jul 30, 2019, 01:18 AM - Edit history (1)

It's all empty bullshit that he thinks will be good for the self-image he wants to promote. He fergits it as soon as he shits it.

ETA: He's a demagogue. He manipulates language to serve his self-aggrandizement. I'm not aware of him having any "core" or "deep" beliefs or principles.

[In It to Win It]

6. Yes

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. Whatever thought is in his head he believes.

He really does. The concept of lying the way most of us here think of it simply doesn't exist for him. It is very important to understand he's a complete narcissist, which means essentially that no one else actually exists. So he can say whatever he likes. Because the only reality for him is him. Not anyone or anything else.

[Blue Owl]

8. Trump exists in a fog of narcissistic self-grandeur

A very dense fog that consumes his every impulse -- I think he really does believe his own delusions...

[DavidDvorkin]

9. I think he believes it as soon as he says it.

[JI7]

10. no, it's more that too many people let him get away with it

while those who call out his lies are attacked by him.

[Caliman73]

11. A very metaphysical question.

Without being inside Trump's brain, thinking his thoughts, and feeling his emotions, it is difficult to say whether he truly believes what he says, whether it is all bluster, or whether it is some combination. We can only guess by his behavior. There are some indications that he does believe what he says, as discussed by some people who were close (as close as you can be to a narcissist) to him or spent extensive time with him like the ghost writer for his book. He may convince himself to a certain degree that what he is saying is valid. Then again, he shows certain body language that are kind of like "poker tells" that indicate that he knows he is going to say something untrue.

[KentuckyWoman]

12. I doubt he pays attention

he spews whatever pops into his noggin. There is no filter. There is no reason to remember any of what he said because he'll just spew whatever pops into his noggin next time.

Truth or Lie has nothing to do with it.

[pampango]

13. Joseph Goebbels thought so.

If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will even come to believe it yourself.

https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1419276

That does not make it true but perhaps very conservative minds come to believe their own lies.

[VOX]

14. 45 either believes his lies, or he's so sociopathic that he doesn't give a shit about consequences.

The net result is the same, so in either scenario, 45 is pathological.