The press takes him literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.Trump is given to hyperbole, who doesn’t know someone like this? We understand that about him and make allowances. The press understands it too, but elects, for its own hostile partisan reasons, to ignore their understanding, and take him literally.
Journalists react to Trump as if he were the Pope speaking ex cathedra. He isn’t. He doesn’t. A better simile would be a cheerleader leading a pep rally, we don’t expect nuance in that setting.
The complaints about his “lies” are contrived. Mostly Trump exaggerates, it’s “overselling” by a “master persuader” in Scott Adams’ terms. So supporters don’t take him literally, but he’s shown we should take him seriously.
