In short
Don Lemon and the host discuss Donald Trump’s repeated falsehoods and alleged cognitive decline, arguing that advisors and media ecosystems enable him. They cite Trump’s made-up stories (e.g., Hitler giving a speech from the Eiffel Tower; Russia losing 50 million troops in WWII), his “weaving”/deflection tactics, and his frequent “I don’t know” responses. They also claim double standards: similar behavior by Joe Biden would be treated as serious decline.
Notable examples
Trump’s false claims about an alleged non-existent Boy Scouts phone call; a fabricated Babe Ruth-related story requiring correction; and the Terry Moran interview where Trump allegedly claimed MS-13 symbols were on someone’s fingers.
Guest backgrounds
Don Lemon is a long-time media journalist/TV host. The other speaker is not clearly identified by name in the transcript.
Key claims
Trump’s advisors may feed him conspiracy theories; he may not understand nuance; and Fox News/MAGA echo chambers reduce fact-checking.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOTrump's Bizarre Claims and Lies
0:45 to 3:52
Discussion on Donald Trump's strange claims and the nature of his lies.
“ai you know it's not my thing although my uncle was at mit one of the great professors 51 years whatever, he was longest serving professor in the history of MIT, three degrees in nuclear, chemical and math.”
Incompetence and Misinformation
3:52 to 7:35
Exploration of Trump's advisors' incompetence and the misinformation flow.
“But they don't say that about Donald Trump when he does his, when he makes up stories just out of whole cloth, makes up things.”
Trump's Echo Chamber and Lies
7:35 to 9:58
Examination of Trump's echo chamber and how he gets away with lies.
“Because I don't think that he understood, and perhaps even the people around him understood that.”
Cultural Commentary on MAGA
9:58 to 12:34
Commentary on the cultural aspects of Trump supporters and their beliefs.
“But he is allowed to do it because he gets away with it.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:04Today we have the ever fabulous never aging Don Lemon with us. Welcome Don Lemon. I get it from you. Yeah, right. I know you are, but what am I? You are never aging and gorgeous as well. Don, you've been in the media forever. Yeah. And so when Donald Trump goes off on Hannibal collector and whales and wind tunnels and all that it's crazy so here he is just lying which we know he lies which i don't that's not breaking news but here he is talking about his uncle and the unabomber and i have to take it i have to brag just for a second because when i first heard about ai you know it's not my thing although my uncle was at mit one of the great professors 51 years whatever, he was longest serving professor in the history of MIT, three degrees in nuclear, chemical and math.
1:01That's a smart man. Kaczynski was one of his students. Do you know who Kaczynski was? There's very little difference between a madman and a genius. Yeah. Okay, we got that, because you're a madman and you're not a genius. But what's interesting about that clip and the reason I play it is number one, Kaczynski, the Unabomber did not go to MIT. His uncle, I think he taught at MIT, but he wasn't the longest serving professor. He always is talking about how smart his uncle is. I'm like, just because he's smart doesn't mean you're smart. Just because you can grift doesn't mean Don Jr. and Eric can grift.
1:39They're terrible at grifting. And I just, why are we not hearing the drum of how incompetent this man is every single day like where's jake tapper's book where the books that's in office where the books about about donald trump's cognitive cognitive decline when he makes up these stories and not to mention which i will the bing bing bing bing bing boop boop bing bing bing bong bong bong when he does that bing bong bing bong bing bong bing bong boom yeah so you're right about facts before i get to the facts of this case let me just tell you donald trump has made up a story i think the boy scouts about this non-existent phone call from the head of the organization that he had there said never happened um he had to email the babe ruth museum to find out the president had made a bunch of false claims about the baseball legend uh babe ruth i mean all kinds of stuff remember the time Magazine, Man of the Year, the fake cover.
2:36He makes up all kinds of stories. And you are right about his uncle and all of that. Ted, because his uncle did work for MIT. Okay. And, but Ted Kaczynski never went to MIT. Ted Kaczynski attended Harvard and the University of Michigan. the president the president's uncle died in 1985 pumps kaczynski was publicly revealed as a unabomber more than a decade later in 1996 and so perhaps his uncle was you know like michael j fox and went back to the future or something and then i don't know what happened but i do think that you You are right, because it is a double standard. Donald Trump comes up with all of these bullshit lies, stories that he makes up off the cuff, and people go, oh, ha, ha, it's funny.
3:38Oh, my God, that's just him. He's a comedian or whatever. Except if it's Joe Biden, they would be saying, oh, my God, it's cognitive decline. He needs to do the 25th Amendment. He needs to be removed from office. He can no longer handle the job as president. But they don't say that about Donald Trump when he does his, when he makes up stories just out of whole cloth, makes up things. And then when he does this thing for the weave, when he weaves and tries to deflect people, right, off of the thing where, you know, where you're talking about, hey, what's going on with Jeffrey Epstein? And he goes, hey, look, I talked to the people in Mexico, to the people at Coca-Cola, and they're going to start putting real sugar back in.
4:19You don't have to get your to go to Mexico. And it's like, what does that have to do with anything? No tax on tips. That's not what we're talking about. And so he makes things up. He does the weave. And too often he gets away with it. But I think you're right. How many books have been written about this? I can't think of a single one. So that brings me to this popped into my head when you were talking. OK, so you have him. He has said several times that Hitler gave a speech from the Eiffel Tower and that Russia lost like 50 million troops in World War Two. OK, he said it over and over and over again.
4:56Both of those things are false. So I'm like, where are his advisors? Is there nobody around him that corrects him? Like, are his advisors so stupid? I mean, we've seen the letters they've sent out that, you know, a sixth grader could spell check and do better. But what is it incompetence or are they scared of him? Why is no one setting him straight on all this? I think you put your finger on all of it. I think it can be it doesn't have to be just one, right? We can have multiple things that are accurate at once. Okay, so here's the thing. Yeah, I think his advisors are not leveling with them with him.
5:38I think they feed him conspiracy theories. I think it is very dangerous to have Stephen Miller around you as an advisor because it will play on many people's. I'm sure I believe it plays on Donald Trump's worst racist conspiracy theorist attributes. And so I think it's that. I also think that he's not smart enough to figure it out. He doesn't know nuance. He doesn't understand some things. And also, I think they don't care because they think he can shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it. and not lose or not lose any support. And so as has been, as we see as a convicted felon, he is now in the highest office in the land.
6:17So let me just say an example of that is, of all of those things that I am telling you right now, that I am positing here, was the interview with Terry Moran. When he goes, Terry, you know, he goes, well, it's, you know, we're not, Terry says, we're not exactly sure. There's been no evidence that shows that Abrego Garcia, that this man was a member of MS-13. And he goes, Terry, he had MS-13 written on his fingers. And Terry says, well, I don't know. That's not right. It isn't whatever. And to try to explain to him that they put that on later because they were saying that that's what they believe these symbols meant.
7:02And then he did not get that. He has MS-13 on his finger. Jerry, this is Jerry. And it's like, no, Donald Trump. So either they were dumb enough and didn't know, or they did not inform him, or he did not get the briefing or understood the briefing, he didn't understand the assignment, or he's just doing it on purpose. So all of those things that we said can be true. No, it was not on his fingers. Now, if you'll notice, after that interview, when people started pointing that out, he never said it again. Because I don't think that he understood, and perhaps even the people around him understood that.
7:43Or maybe they just said, tell him that, let him think it, and move on. Now, if you'll recall, I think it was Tulsi Gabbard. It was Tulsi Gabbard, or it was Christina. One of them said that they wanted to give Donald Trump his daily briefing. Yes, Tulsi Gabbard. Tulsi Gabbard in a format that he can absorb and that he understands and that he's used to. And that is cable news style food fight format. And they wanted to present the daily briefing as if it was a cable news show every day. Because that answers your question. You get my, I don't have to keep digging in on this. He just doesn't give a shit.
8:27He does not give a shit about policy. He doesn't want to read the daily briefing. And, you know, that's that reminds me of another thing as we're talking. How many times has he said, well, I don't know. I didn't know about that. When it talked about arms to Ukraine, you know, a special counsel, all these questions. He just says, I don't know. And people let him get away with that. How do you not fucking know you are the president of the United States? The buck stops with you. You have to know everything. So why does he get away with that? Can you imagine if Joe Biden would have been asked a question about armed ship shipments to Ukraine and he said, I don't know, or toxic chemicals being used by Russia on the Ukraine?
9:10Well, I don't know. Like, why did they let him get away with that? Well, I mean, Ukraine. What? I don't know. I don't know anything about Ukraine. Never heard. What phone call? I don't know what phone call. I mean, all my phone calls are perfect. They're a big, beautiful phone. I have no idea. David Duke I have no idea who David Duke who I've never met the man who is Melania Melania I don't know anybody named Melania Project 2025 I've never heard of Project 2025 never heard of it never heard of it I have no idea that that is his MO every single time and he gets away with it because the cult is allowing him to get away with it and um you know but I did again I don't know I believe there's one thing that the cult may not allow him to get away with, and that is what's happening with Epstein, but that's a whole other thing.
9:58But he is allowed to do it because he gets away with it. And the MAGA folks believe him. And you know why they believe him? One, they want to believe a cult leader. But two, they sit in front of the television or the radio all day, especially Fox News, and they listen to this BS and they never hear the truth. They're in an echo chamber. So whatever Donald Trump says goes, he's always right. Fox News rarely, if ever, challenges him. And so they believe it. He does it because he can get away with it. And it is every single, I think every single time that he's been caught in a lie, he says, I don't know.
10:36I never heard of it. And then on the channels that are not Fox News or not conservative, they play the, there's always a videotape or a tweet about it or whatever he posts on his social media site. That is contradictory of what he's saying. But you'll never hear that, rarely or never, on Fox News or on conservative radio. That is why he gets away with it, because he knows he can. Yeah. Yeah. And did you see The Apprentice movie where they went through the Roy Cohn thing and how he was like, if you repeat a lie, and no. Yeah. It becomes the truth. And if you double down and double down, people will just get tired of it.
11:12And that's exactly what he's doing. I mean, that's exactly what he's doing. And these people have found community and like a bond in the hate of the same people. Dehumanizing the same people makes them feel good. And it really, it doesn't tell a good story about the status of the United States of America. When you have Stephen Miller, I mean, we are rounding people up and sending him to concentration camps. Giddy, I mean, hard dicks all over MAGA at the thought that alligators might eat people. And, you know, we're going to wear merch and stuff. I mean, I'm just like, who the fuck are these people?
11:49I never thought I'd hear dicks and alligators. in the same sentence. But it's true. Only new pumps. That's why I love the I've Had It podcast because you never know what you're going to get together. You strung together a sentence that had dicks and alligators in it and hard dicks. Hard dicks and alligators. And alligators. I thought that I was like, you know, edgy because I was calling the, you know, all of the podcasters or whatever and the people who stumped for Trump when I was calling them dick riders. But you outdid me. on this one. I have a 12 year old boy's sense of humor. That's true.
12:26I can't, I can't deny it. I can't disagree with you on any of what you just said about that. It is, it's exasperating, but do you know, here we are and we're so lucky to have you to get us to the truth. Well, thank you. And with some humor and smarts and beauty, of course. Oh, well, thank you, Don Lemon. Thank you so much. We'd love having you on. You're such a gift. Thank you. Join the Lemon Nation. Don't forget.
From the publisher
@TheDonLemonShow Joins us to discuss some of Trump's failing mental fortitude.
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