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For WSJ, Trump Doesn't 'Lie' — He Makes 'Questionable' Statements

The newspaper's editor-in-chief says using the word "lie" can seem biased.
Posted at 9:06 AM, Jan 02, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-02 09:06:00-05

"I saw people getting together and, in fairly large numbers, celebrating as the World Trade Center was coming down," Donald Trump said in 2015. 

President-elect Trump made that statement during his campaign, and fact-checkers widely agreed it wasn't true. But should it be called a lie? 

The Wall Street Journal's editor-in-chief doesn't think so. He told "Meet the Press" on Sunday that journalists should be careful about using that word.

Gerard Baker said, "'Lie' implies much more than just saying something that's false. It implies a deliberate intent to mislead."

Instead, Baker used words like "questionable" and "challengeable" to describe some of Trump's statements. 

His approach is different from other media outlets. The New York Times editorial board used "lie" repeatedly in a story. And then there's Huffington Post, which called Trump a "serial liar" at the end of every article during the campaign season. 

Baker said using the word "lie" could appear biased, especially if reporters don't use the word equally for all candidates. 

"I think people are saying, 'You know what, Hillary Clinton said a lot things that were false.' I don't recall the press being quite so concerned about saying that she lied in headlines and stories like that," Baker told "Meet the Press."