Earlier this week, fact-checking Web site Politifact rolled up all of Donald Trump's outrageous claims into a ball and gave the real estate magnate-turned-presidential frontrunner their annual Lie of the Year award.
In his rebuttal to the piece about his hyperbolic ways, he managed to shovel another heap atop an already large collection of dishonest, albeit entertaining, quotes.
First, he doubled down on his claim that there were crowds of American Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 9-11 shortly after the attack.
Then, he called Politifact "a totally left-wing group."
Which is bullshit.
The site, a joint effort by the Tampa Bay Times and The Miami Herald, weighs the claims of every politician, and calls out anyone who tries — wittingly or less so — to deceive the public. (Fact: The site's 2013 Lie of the Year was President Obama's "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it" line.)
Despite being an obviously skilled bullshitter (or perhaps because of it), The Donald leads the pack in at least three important primary states, according to recent polling conducted by Associated Industries of Florida.
Politico's Marc Caputo notes that Trump is leading in New Hampshire and Florida (with 24 and 29 percent, respectively) and is tied with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in South Carolina (each has 27 points there, according to the poll).
Those wondering why he's doing so well can take solace in the results of a recent Quinnipiac poll that suggests about half of Americans would be "embarrassed" by a Trump presidency.
So there's that.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2015.