Lawrence O’Donnell said President Donald Trump has a verbal tell—“If you want to know the truth”—and pointed to a recent exchange with reporters about ending the war with Iran in two or three days, calling the claim inconsistent with Trump’s comments last week
On Tuesday, Lawrence O’Donnell watched a short moment on camera and heard something he couldn’t un-hear. He said President Donald Trump used a verbal tic—“If you want to know the truth”—that, in his view, appears after Trump has been lying.
The moment came during a reporter’s question this week about Iran. “You’ll be signing a peace agreement in two or three days?” the reporter asked. repeating Trump’s own words back to him. Trump responded: “No. no. we have a good chance of doing it.” Then he added: “We should be able to do it in one hour. if you want to know the truth.”.
O’Donnell said the phrasing mattered. “Here’s a phrase I’ve never used: ‘If you want to know the truth. ’” he said. describing it as “a weirder version” of the phrase people often use—“to tell you the truth.” In O’Donnell’s telling. the effect is unsettling: “The implication is the person saying that doesn’t always tell the truth.”.
He went further, saying the president’s use of the line is habitual. “It’s one of Donald Trump’s tics: ‘If you want to know the truth.’ And every single time I have ever heard that man use that phrase — ‘If you want to know the truth’ — he’s said it after a lie.”
O’Donnell tied that claim to what Trump said about timing. He pointed out that Trump’s “two or three days” assertion sits in tension with Trump’s comments last week that these kinds of agreements “takes years.”
“So, yes, we want to know the truth,” O’Donnell said. “And we all know it’s impossible to get that from Donald Trump about anything.”
He returned to the clip again. emphasizing the contrast between Trump’s initial statement and what happened when reporters repeated the words back. In the exchange. Trump first suggested a deal could be reached quickly. then walked back the phrasing when the reporter used his “two or three days” language.
“That’s what we’re dealing with in the presidency during wartime,” O’Donnell said. He framed the moment as part of the pressure and uncertainty surrounding negotiations with Iran. describing the president’s behavior as “the clown on the other side of the negotiations that Iran might or might not be engaging in with the United States.”.
Lawrence O’Donnell Trump verbal tic if you want to know the truth Iran negotiations peace agreement U.S. politics MSNBC The Last Word
lol politicians say weird stuff all the time.
So they’re saying “if you want to know the truth” means he’s lying? That’s like… literally everybody says that phrase. Also Iran peace in two hours sounds fake regardless.
I don’t even watch MSNBC but I heard about this tic thing. Didn’t Trump say they could end the war like immediately?? And now it’s “takes years” last week?? Sounds like they’re setting up an excuse already.
At this point I’m not sure what’s worse, the war talk or the pundits analyzing his speech like it’s a tell in poker. If a reporter repeats “two or three days” and he panics and says one hour, that’s just PR. But also everyone’s lying in negotiations so how do we even know what’s true here? Lawrence O’Donnell always acts like he’s got the secret decoder ring for Trump.