Trump may have stretched some of his facts at the State of the Union.
But, why?
It is obvious, from his rally speeches that he knows better. When he talks about his numbers there, he always talks about the media calling him out on mistakes and giving him Pinocchios.
By failing the fact check, he creates a situation where the media talks about his numbers all over again. They may even be giving those numbers to people who refused to watch the speech when it aired. Some of those people were indifferent, and others hated him, but they are now exposed to actual numbers that, even unexaggerated, are still good.
This is why the media hates him. He understands their game. He plays their game at least as well as they do. Arguably, he plays it better than they do, because he holds his own in the face of their resistance and hostility.
It goes deeper. This will seem random, but Trump was involved with professional wrestling for a while. This means that he is knows who the “booker” is. For those unfamiliar, this is the person in control of the soap opera which is played by the wrestlers. This is the writer of the script. This person must constantly adjust to the changes that transpire. Even though the wrestlers are trying to make it go in a specific direction, there are still variables. Random things like injuries, and crowd reaction to wrestlers who are all vying for more time in the spotlight, are all things that change the plot being written.
The booker, like Trump handling the media, will still be pushing the whole thing toward the grand finale they are trying to achieve. This requires a mindset that has already made plans to compensate for a number of different outcomes and still get the story to the desired endpoint. It means some details will change constantly.
Which brings us to the real question. Why does Trump keep telling us about it? Why does he keep telling us that the media are fake? Why is he the one who keeps pointing at the curtain where Oz is standing if he wants Oz’s job? This part doesn’t make sense if Trump is trying to take over permanently. Our President just went out of his way to prove that he is the best Ringling, by doing a bigger and better “show” of a speech. He sounded Presidential, and he tugged at everyone’s heartstrings more than once, and has his haters talking about nothing but the show.
Wrestling avoided admitting that it was all rigged, and never wanted you to see behind the curtain. It was only after the “Montreal Screwjob” where greed overtook reason, and tempers flared into violence, that they were forced to make the script a part of the show. The booker was dragged into the spotlight to blink and wince. The wrestling fans took it all in stride and decided to keep enjoying the show.
It seems Trump is trying to achieve this on our national stage. Trying to pull back the media curtain behind which all the dirty deals are being decided. Our President is trying to pull that swamp booker out into the light so We, the People, can decide whether the show should go on.