Are There More Liars And Lying In This Campaign, Or Does It Just Seem Like It?

The 2016 campaign strikes some as a school yard brawl, with candidates calling each other “liars” and accusing each other of not telling the truth.

Jill Lepore, a Harvard history professor, wrote about the subject for The New Yorker. She says attacks about candidates credibility have occurred since the United States started holding elections. However, the candidates didn’t attack one another, their supporters did “the dirty work.”

But Lepore says there are concerning differences about this presidential election.

“I find it concerning that so much of what is described as debate…is really combat,” Lepore told Here & Now‘s Robin Young. “And combat has a really different history and very different origins than debate. And combat isn’t that useful in a democracy. In fact, it rewards the mighty. It doesn’t  promote the idea of equality.”

• The New Yorker: After the Fact

Guest

• Jill Lepore, history professor at Harvard and staff writer at The New Yorker.

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