Even Fox News called out Trump's latest lie

Welcome to facts, Fox News.
 By 
Peter Allen Clark
 on 
Even Fox News called out Trump's latest lie
Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Trump has been pretty quiet on Twitter lately. Maybe he's turned a corner? Maybe this is the presidential pivot? Maybe the White House staff hid his phone?

Well, he broke that illusion Thursday morning when he once again tweeted a blatant lie, one that is easily disproven.

In the tweet, Trump says that 45.6 million people watched his State of the Union address on Tuesday. So far, so good. That number checks out.

But then he claims that's the "highest number in history."

This is something a simple Google search easily unravels. Multiple statistics tracking sites and viewership records show that Trump's first State of the Union was somewhere in the middle of the pack. The largest on record for viewership is George W. Bush's 2003 speech, which attracted 62 million viewers.

The one lie was so brazen, so obviously untrue, so recognizably false that even Fox News felt it necessary to correct Trump.

Now we know that all it takes for Fox News to call out the President's constant stream of misinformation is a stark, black-and-white lie. Progress!

Of course, this was the Fox News Research Twitter account, which has only 43,000 followers. Fox News' main Twitter account, with its 17 million followers, chose not to highlight the total falsehood.

Trump has long been obsessed with any number associated with him being the absolute best, highest, or largest possible. This viewership claim easily mirrors Sean Spicer's bold lie about attendance for the inauguration. We're sure it won't be the last.

So, well done, Fox. Way to find your way over to the side of facts.

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Peter Allen Clark

I have done neat stuff all over these United States from sailing lessons on the Puget Sound to motorcycle maintenance on the backroads of upstate New York. My professional experience extends from newspaper reporting in the mountains of Eastern Oregon to fixing espresso machines throughout Kentucky. I also have kept a cat alive for 10 years.

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