Fact Checker

Let's hear it for the hardest working people in journalism!

Hats off to the Washington Post fact-checkers who have spent countless hours and many sleepless nights digesting 3 a.m. bulletins from the Tweeter-in-Chief in their mission to catalog the number of whoppers from Donald Trump. Your country owes you a debt of gratitude.

We do worry though about your mental health. The concern: do our intrepid fact-checkers have the stamina and intestinal fortitude to make in through next week's political Super Bowl, the midterms? It won't be easy.

The Washington Post today divulged that Trump is pumping it up. He's obviously not satisfied with saying an average five lies or misleading claims each day of his nine-month reign through Oct. 30. For those keeping score, that's 6,420 falsehoods and misleading statements.

While hitting the campaign trail in the friendly confines of places like Ohio, Tennessee, Arizona, Texas, and Wisconsin during the past seven weeks, the president spewed an incredible 30 whoppers a day.

That's a head-spinning performance. Pinocchio is a chump compared to Trump.

The president is also adding a dash of creativity to his repertoire of deceit, resulting in a 'say what' response from fact-checkers.

For instance, how do you begin to challenge off-the-wall statements that cities across the US are being "liberated" from the MS-13 gang, or that his famous Southern Wall is currently being built? Some stuff is just divorced from all reality.

The pressure though may be getting to the noble fact-checkers. The staff originally wanted to track Trump's whoppers through Oct. 31 for today's story. Alas, the 10,000 words spoken by Trump and 20 tweets sent on Halloween were target-rich and kept them busy well beyond the deadline for the article.

The worst or best is yet to come.

The president is holding rallies non-stop through Monday, when he will visit Ohio, Indiana and Missouri. There will be plenty of bogus claims, tall tales and lies.

Godspeed, fact-checkers.