In the 1920s Adolf Hitler coined the term “the big lie,” meaning the use of a falsehood so huge no one would believe a leader could dare promote it were it not true.
From then on the phrase “the big lie” became a standard description of the prime propaganda technique used by strongmen in undemocratic regimes.
Last week, Donald Trump’s mastery of the big lie was on full display when he gave himself an A+ for his handling of COVID-19.
“We’ve done a phenomenal job,” he insisted baldly, rating his performance as “an A+”, even as America’s death toll soared beyond 200,000 and continued to rise at close to 1000 per day With 4% of the world’s population, the United States has nearly 21% of the deaths from the virus.
Clearly Trump has no concern about applying the big lie to the virus – a topic central to the 2020 election and to America’s economy, security and psyche.