Claude Singer
Claude Singer

Years ago, I began collecting examples of the colorful and creative ways that people often deny guilt. I would be reading about a charge of embezzlement or drunk driving and discover the accused person’s excuse was not only barely credible but also highly imaginative.

The inspiration for collecting excuses came from a shady politician swept up in a case of fraud. His indignation at being accused was priceless: “I’m being accused of things I’ve never been accused of before,” he thundered. This became the number one item in my folder I titled “Faint Denials.”

My Faint Denials folder grew fat, but I eventually filed it away and forgot about it. That was until March, when news broke of a high-school track star in Virginia who had allegedly bashed her rival with her baton during a relay race. She claimed—amid tears—that the video was misleading. Her baton accidentally swung up and hit the other girl’s head—twice. “I know my intentions and I would never hit somebody on purpose,” she said during an interview.

If I had kept my folder of faint denials, her statements would be overshadowed by those on President Trump’s national security team. These key players in our nation’s defense policies chatted amiably about bombing rebel cadres in Yemen while they allowed a gleeful reporter from the Atlantic to enjoy access to the thread.

Once the public heard about this disgraceful, hilarious, unfathomable, pratfall-like blunder—I’m searching for an adequate adjective—Defense Secretary Hegseth and his colleagues fired off their faint denials. Oh, these bombing details of weaponry and targets “weren’t classified,” they sputtered. Hegseth’s denial was accompanied by a tirade against the lucky reporter whom he called “a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who has made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again.”

If I still had that file, the Trump national security team would be the lead item. But wait, there’s a better contender—this one is my new favorite:

The New York Times editorial board, in a March 29 editorial titled “The Democrats Are in Denial about 2024,” scolded Democrats for denying reality in the post-mortem of their loss of Presidency, Congress and Senate. The Times editorial board suggests Democrats’ hope for revival can only come from what turns out to be an orgy of faint denials.

“First, they should admit that their party mishandled Mr. Biden’s age. Leading Democrats insisted that he had mental acuity for a second term when most Americans believed otherwise.”

“Mishandled Biden’s age”?

“Party leaders even attempted to shout down anybody who raised concerns, before reversing course and pushing Mr. Biden out of the race.”

Then there was this: “Already, many voters believe that Democrats refuse to admit uncomfortable truths on some subjects, including crime, illegal immigration, inflation and COVID lockdowns. Mr. Biden’s age became a glaring example. Acknowledging as much may be backward looking, but it would send an important signal.”

“Refuse to admit uncomfortable truths on some subjects?” Seems to me that’s a faint-denial way of saying Democrats lied. Lied about, well, that’s a long list.

My first serious business job was writing speeches for the CEO of Chase under the direction of SVP Fraser Seitel—the same Fraser Seitel so familiar to PR professionals and students for his classic textbook, The Practice of Public Relations.

Seitel speaks widely about what organizations should do in a crisis. It’s a common theme in the field, and every PR firm has its own crisis protocols. But Fraser’s advice always includes this precept: Frame a response to your advantage and release selective details, but one thing is not negotiable: You don’t lie.

If the Times, the Democrats, the high school athletes and the Hegseths of the world had simply admitted the truth in simple, unvarnished language, then my faint denials file would be empty.

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Claude Singer is Managing Partner of the New York-based brand strategy and implementation agency Brandsinger.