Trick question. It's not a "what" this year, but rather a "who". Sort of. We'll explain.

Donald Trump -- or, rather, Donald Trump's "campaign statements" -- won the dubious honor of Politifact's "Lie of the Year" for 2015. Every year the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking organization run out of the Tampa Bay Times picks one statement or claim made by a leading politician or group of politicians that it feels is the most egregious, the most misleading and awards it the "Lie of the Year."

Previous winners -- perhaps we should say "winners" -- include:

  • 2014: exaggerations about ebola
  • 2013: "If you like your health-care plan, you can keep it"
  • 2012: the Romney campaign ad about Jeep moving to China
  • 2011: "Republicans voted to end Medicare"
  • 2010: "a government takeover of health care"
  • 2009: "death panels"

This year, though, rather than going with a particular statement made by a leading politician, Politifact chose "the campaign statements of Donald Trump":

PolitiFact has been documenting Trump’s statements on our Truth-O-Meter, where we’ve rated 76 percent of them Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire, out of 77 statements checked. No other politician has as many statements rated so far down on the dial.

Trump responded to his "victory" in the Lie of the Year during an interview with ABC's Jon Karl. “Politifact is a group that if I said something right down the middle they are always going to be negative,” Trump said. “They are leaning in a certain direction, and no matter what you do with them ... I mean, they are a very dishonest group in my opinion.”

 

 

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