How Trump Deals With Cheating and What to Do Instead
Trump is certainly not the first politician to lie, but he has earned a reputation for doing so for several reasons. First, he lies a lot. And secondly, when his name is called, he does not handle it well. Here are a few things you shouldn’t do when someone calls you a lie , unless you want to make the situation worse.
We all lied about something and were challenged to do so. When I was 14, for example, I lied to my mom about makeup. When she found my concealer, what did I do? I completely denied it was mine, which of course only made me look even more like a liar.
The politicians, of course, are a little different. They lie strategically, and many Trump supporters have even pointed out that they don’t give a damn if he lies . However, our current administration is a lot like the 14-year-old who was arrested for applying makeup. Instead of admitting their mistake and moving on, they just keep lying. While he can get away with it, Trump’s lies don’t quite contribute to his approval rating, which is now at a new low . This is where they went wrong and what you should do instead the next time you get caught in a lie.
Don’t blame anyone else
After Trump commented on his outrageous claim that Obama had tapped his phones during the 2016 election campaign, he blamed Fox News for his information.
“You shouldn’t talk to me,” Trump added. You should talk to Fox.
For his part, Fox said they were unaware of “any evidence that the current President of the United States was being watched at any time and in any case.”
And this isn’t the first time he’s blaming someone else. After he lied about his electoral college win as the biggest since Reagan, reporters called him in and Trump said someone had provided information to him.
When you are caught lying or spreading false information, it is easy to throw someone under the bus. Let’s say you’re lying about completing a project at work, your boss finds out about it, and you blame your coworker for suggesting it was done. It might work for someone like Trump, but for all of us, this behavior only makes things worse. At best, your boss will just think you are dumb, but the more likely you are to come across as more deceitful.
What to do instead: This should be taken for granted, but just admit it. People respect you more when you admit you made a mistake . When you are transparent and honest, people are more likely to forgive and respect you. Even if you lied as part of a group, just admit your part and move on. Otherwise, you will look even more like a liar and waste the time of others.
Resist the sunk cost fallacy
Ah, denial. You’ve come this far, you can keep lying, right? This is a sunk cost error in action. It’s a tendency to keep going down the same path because you just can’t let go of the time or effort you’ve already spent on something.
Paul Shoemaker, director of research at the Mac’s Center for Technological Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, told the Harvard Business Review that many people can’t just cut their losses when they make a mistake. Instead of admitting that they have failed, they believe that there is more to be gained than to be lost if they continue on the same path. According to him, they “perform an asymmetric assessment of profits and losses, so that the losses appear to be much larger than the profits.” In other words, they mistakenly think that admitting they were wrong will be worse than the consequences of holding on to the mistake.
Remember when Trump claimed that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 elections, citing this as an explanation for why he lost the popular vote? The statement , of course, was refuted , but he did not back down . And when reporters asked White House press secretary Sean Spicer if Trump still believed this, Spicer replied that yes, Trump still holds that belief due to “research and evidence” (although they never cite any of the of these studies). This seems like an outright lie, and when it is called, the administration digs even deeper.
What to do instead: Again, Trump gets away with it (and it might even work for him), but you are not Trump. Don’t fall for the sunk cost fallacy. Like many cognitive biases, just knowing them helps more than anything. But it can also help put things in perspective when they call you a lie – is it really that bad if you admit it? Possibly, but in most cases it will cost you a lot more if you keep going down the same path.
Don’t get defensive
Trump will not give up on this wiretapping of Obama, even though House Speaker Paul Ryan says there is no evidence that the very source he named claims there is no evidence . The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee did not completely rule out other surveillance methods, but he said there was ” no physical wiretapping of Trump’s tower .” So, no, Obama was not bugging Trump Tower.
But the administration is not appeasing. They relaxed their definition of “Obama” and “wiretapping,” and when reporters demanded proof, Spicer became defensive and angry.
Again, since many people don’t care if the new administration is lying or not, they can get away from it and simply declare war on the media. For the rest of us, a defensive stance not only makes us even more insecure, but also induces a defensive stance in the other person . In other words, it’s not a very productive way to deal with lies.
What to do instead: It ‘s actually pretty easy to gracefully deal with someone caught in a lie. Muse offers some helpful tips that basically boil down to a few steps:
- Step one : admit the lie. You know this is not true and people will respect you more if you admit it. They may even be able to trust you again.
- Step two: apologize for the lie . And make sure your apology is sincere and simple. “I was dishonest and I’m sorry.” Simple.
- Step three : explain yourself. This is not an excuse, but an explanation for your behavior. Muse explains that the person you lied to may still be upset, but they will better understand where you came from, which will help you reconcile.
- Step four : come up with a plan. If possible, come up with a plan to fix the situation. Explain in a different way how you will deal with future situations.
While these steps do not guarantee that your lies will be forgiven, they are the best way to save face when you are lying. That’s pretty common sense, but pride or panic (or politics) can often get in the way.