CLEVELAND — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump promised an end to lies Thursday night — and as if to prove his point, he posted a transcript of his speech meticulously annotated with 282 footnotes.
“If you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths — the Democrats are holding their convention next week. But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else,” Mr. Trump said at the top of his speech.
Drawing from news sources, think tanks and federal agency reports, the Trump campaign backed up claims ranging from the slumping economy to rising crime rates.
The release of the annotated transcript appeared to be a preemptive strike against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which regularly accuses the GOP nominee of stretching the truth.
In a statement Thursday the Clinton campaign pointed to media fact-check operations that said Mr. Trump regularly rates “pants-on-fire” or “false” ratings when they check his claims.
“Throughout Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency, one thing has remained shockingly consistent: his repeated struggles with [or ’telling’] the truth,” the Clinton campaign said.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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