Trump camp moves past 'alternative facts' to alternative reality

On Monday, the official presidential Twitter feed offered up a string of misleading tweets trying to twist FBI Director James Comey’s House Intelligence Committee testimony into something less damaging. Comey saying he couldn’t comment became Comey “refusing to deny.” Saying that Russia hadn’t altered vote totals became saying that “Russia did not influence electoral process.” Comey even had to say, during the hearing, in real time, that he had been misrepresented by the official presidential Twitter account.

It’s well established that Donald Trump is a shameless liar. But this was his official, not personal, Twitter account, he was clearly not writing these tweets, and they were something beyond normal lies. McKay Coppins argues that:

This was not just campaign spin, or even presidential obfuscation. It was an official government communications arm of the executive branch with massive reach—something akin to a state-run media outlet—deliberately misreporting, in real time, what was happening on Capitol Hill. And the effort is only likely to get more elaborate, and more deliberate, the longer Russia remains in the headlines.

That seems right. We’re dealing with a regime dedicated to hiding the truth and lying not just about things done in secret but about things happening before our eyes. It’s a regime that—if it’s to retain any shred of legitimacy in the public view—needs to create an alternative reality. And that’s just what they’re trying to do.