So Bob Corker fired a broadside at Trump calling the White House an “adult day care center” and Trump fired back at Corker calling him ‘Liddle Bob Corker’ but that wasn’t unusual – this was: Next President Trump claimed Corker had begged to endorse him for reelection and, when Trump told him no, Corker had high-tailed it out of the race.

But Corker told a different story: He claimed Trump had not only asked him to run for reelection but had also, repeatedly, promised to endorse him if he did.

So, somebody’s lyin.’ But who? And what’s the harm?  

A Senator telling tales about a President can create do a lot of mischief. Fake news stories. Mean tweets. Fodder for click factories.  

But a President telling tales can be worse: The President’s the keeper of the public trust – when Americans don’t see eye to eye with a President it leads to spats and grumpiness but democracy stumbles along as long as the public trust is intact. But when a President loses the public trust – as Nixon did – every time he opens his mouth people think he’s trying to hoodwink them. And the ship of state sinks like the Titanic.