Trump: Stonewaller, Shape-Shifter, Liar

Trump's campaign is a vast policy desert, so declaring that the sparse fronds of detail are eminently negotiable erases any confidence that voters know what they are getting. Voting for Trump is like nailing Jell-O to your ballot.

Finally, most appallingly, Trump the liar. That is a strong charge, but it appears warranted in the matter of Trump masquerading as his own spokesman (disturbing enough) and then outright denying it (way more disturbing).

"It was not me on the phone," Trump told NBC's Savannah Guthrie. "And it doesn't sound like me on the phone. I'll tell you that. And it was not me on the phone. And when was this, 25 years ago?"

Yes, and Trump could have said any number of things: This was a silly prank, long ago. Of course he shouldn't have done it.

Instead, Trump opted to lie. How do we know? Because in a quote back then to People magazine about supposed spokesman "John Miller," Trump described his posing as "a joke gone awry." Because numerous reporters have described having similar encounters with phony Trump spokesmen.

Because Trump himself admitted in court that "I believe on occasion I used that name" -- referring to a different alias, "John Barron." Because who are you going to believe: Trump or your lying ears?

This is a fib, you might argue, so trivial as to be meaningless. Yet a candidate wiling to lie about something so small will be a president willing to lie about something big -- and this is hardly Trump's only lie (e.g., thousands of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey on 9/11).

The popular understanding may be that all politicians lie, but there is a difference between the ordinarily distasteful political diet of spin, fudge, evasion and hyperbole and the Trumpian habit of unvarnished, unembarrassed falsehood.

"Who cares?" Trump would breezily assure the horrified Mar-a-Lago house historian after regaling guests with the untrue tale of how Walt Disney himself created the nursery-themed tiles in his daughter's room.

Who cares, indeed -- an important question for voters. Americans have elected previous presidents who subsequently lied to them (and, yes, that includes the husband of a current candidate). Knowingly electing one who lies while trying out for the job would be a tragic mistake.

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Ruth Marcus' email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.