MAGA Republican President Donald Trump has a long history of telling unsubstantiated stories about "big, strong men" approaching him "with tears in their eyes" to thank him or tell him how amazing he is or how much they admire him.
The stories have always involved generic archetypes: military members, police officers, firefighters, manual laborers. Which might explain Trump's obsession with 1970s disco super group The Village People.
But now Trump is attributing these moments of fawning adoration to real people.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that Maryland Democratic Governor Wes Moore approached him at an Army-Navy football game in December of 2024, hugged him, and then told Trump:
"Sir, you're the greatest president of my lifetime."
You can watch Trump make this claim here:
Trump told the press:
"I met him at the Army-Navy game. They said, ‘Oh there’s Gov. Moore, he’d love to see you.’ He came over to me, he hugged me, shook my hand—you were there—he said, ‘Sir, you’re the greatest president of my lifetime.’"
"I said, ‘That’s really nice that you say that. I’d love you to say it publicly, but I don’t think you can do that, so it’s okay,’ but, ‘No, sir, you’re doing a fantastic job, I want to just shake your hand.'"
The problem with citing real people instead of an unidentified "macho, macho man" like Trump usually does is that real people can tell everyone Trump lied.
When video of Trump making this claim was posted on social media, Governor Moore reshared it with the simple caption, "lol."
Governor Moore later commented on his share of the video:
"Keep telling yourself that, Mr. President."
You can see the Democratic governor's posts here:
Governor Moore said in a WBAL Radio interview:
"...when I say that conversation never happened, that imaginary conversation never happened, I mean that conversation never happened."
Even worse, Trump lying about actual people and events means someone can pull video footage and prove Trump lied, like Fox News did. The video, filmed for a Fox documentary about Trump, didn’t show Governor Moore calling Trump "the greatest president" nor did it show Governor Moore hugging Trump.
The Fox News video showed Governor Moore shaking Trump’s hand, then saying:
"Welcome back to Maryland, sir. Welcome back to Maryland. It’s good to see you."
Trump said something unintelligible, then Governor Moore responded:
"Thank you, sir. It’s great to see you, and great to have you back here. We are very, very anxious to be able to work closely with you."
Governor Moore spoke about securing federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge after a ship crashed into it, and promised to have the project done "on time, on budget."
Trump said:
"We’ll help you out."
Moore replied:
"Thank you, sir."
When Fox News aired the footage, they tried to claim it supported Trump’s claim, but it clearly proved he lied.
Trump's blatant lie about his conversation with Governor Moore should call into question all of his other stories about big, strong men—with tears in their eyes—thanking and praising him.
People weren't surprised Trump lied.
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White House spokesperson Liz Huston told Newsweek in an email:
"Governor Wes Moore heaped praise upon President Trump behind the scenes after the President's landslide victory on November 5th."
"The only reason lightweight Wes Moore is attacking President Trump now is because he's desperate for attention and delusional enough to think he has a chance at becoming the next president. Wes should spend less time attacking President Trump and more time cleaning up the massive crime mess in Baltimore."
However Governor Moore's spokesman Carter Elliott, IV, told CNN:
"That was the only interaction at the game."
He added Fox's footage captured everything aside from them taking a photo at the end.
But Trump's mouthpiece may have tipped his hand. Trump has recently targeted major cities in California, Illinois, and Maryland—Los Angeles, Chicago, and Baltimore respectively.
Apparently Trump sees the Democratic governors of each of those states—Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, and Moore—as serious contenders for the 2028 presidential election. Manufacturing crises in their states and lying about interactions with them appears to be Trump's strategy.
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