Donald Trump caught off guard as White House reporter S.V. Dáte asks 'do you regret all your lying?'

Charlie Duffield14 August 2020

Donald Trump feigned ignorance before moving on to the next question after a journalist asked if he regretted lying to the American public.

At Thursday's White House briefing, Huffington Post’s White House correspondent S.V Dáte asked: “Mr President, after three and a half years [of Trump’s presidency], do you regret at all, all the lying you’ve done to the American people?”

"All the what?," Mr Trump replied.

REUTERS

Mr Dáte replied: “All the lying, all the dishonesties.”

Mr Trump continued: “That who has done?”

Mr Dáte began: “You have done. Tens of thousan–,” but was cut off by the President calling on another journalist, who asked a question about payroll tax.

According to a running fact checker database from the Washington Post, Mr Trump had told over 20,000 “false or misleading claims” during his presidency.

The database records almost a thousand false statements by Mr Trump about the coronavirus, which has killed more than 165,000 people in the US.

Speaking to the Guardian, Mr Dáte said that he asked the question because it was the first time had been given the chance to.

He said: “I don’t know why he called on me, because I’ve tried to ask him before [in March] and he’s cut me off mid-question.

"Maybe he didn’t recognise me this time. You know, he has this group of folks that he normally asks questions of.”

The journalist reflected that he had a prominent seat during that particular press pool, and said: "I had always thought that if he ever did call on me, this is the one thing that is really central to his presidency

"Trump’s lying was the “singular piece of his presidency that will be remembered in 10 years”.

Mr Dáte was not surprised by Mr Trump's response to his question, but said he was determined to ask the question again: "Mr President, you didn’t answer last time. Could you address why you’ve told …’ whatever the number will be by then."