In a children’s novel written by Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio is a wooden puppet carved by the carpenter Geppetto, who controls the puppet’s physical actions with strings. In Collodi’s story, Pinocchio acquires some human characteristics, including dishonesty, and whenever he lies, his nose grows longer. I was reminded of Pinocchio, the puppet who lies, during the recent renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Donald Trump has often said that of paramount importance in his administration is “loyalty” to him, that is, unquestioning agreement with whatever he says or does. He has surrounded himself with “puppets,” whose acts, according to a dictionary definition of the word, “are controlled by an outside influence.” After the calamitous renovation of the reflecting pool this summer, the misinformation spread by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, that vandals were responsible for the damage to the pool, confirmed that they both deserve to be labeled, not only as Trump’s “puppets,” (those who automatically mimic the president’s words and deeds), but that they also belong to a more exclusive club, “The Lying Puppets,” or to extend to them some generosity, “puppets who say things that are not true.”
Almost immediately after the renovation was completed, large pieces of the new liner floated to the surface of the pool. The official explanation from the government was that the damage was caused by vandals, a false theory repeated not only by Trump himself, but by Burgum, whose department had directed the project. Pirro promptly held a press conference where she announced, in high indignation and self-satisfaction, that criminal charges would be brought against David Hearn and three other suspects. Pirro stated that “the evidence shows, and we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” that David Hearn willfully destroyed property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. She stated that Hearn “forcefully and violently” reached down and removed pieces of the recently installed liner. Pirro charged Hearn with a felony, and three others with misdemeanors.
About a month later, Pirro submitted a court filing that dropped the charges against all four people, thereby contradicting her previous public statements about them. In reversing the criminal charges, Pirro conceded that the damage to the pool was due not to vandalism, as she and Trump and Burgum had stated, but rather to a “botched installation” by the contractor. Trump responded to Pirro’s announcement of the dropped charges by stating on Truth Social, “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro. I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM.” Trump blamed Pirro for “choking” and “folding like an umbrella,” and Pirro blamed Burgum, for providing her office with faulty evidence of vandalism that she eventually determined would not hold up in court. No one seemed to blame Mr. Trump.
Like Pinocchio, the puppets Pirro and Burgum appear to be controlled by an outside influence (Donald Trump), and also like Pinocchio, they have not been reliable truth-tellers, at least in connection with the reflecting pool. However, their noses do not change in size or shape, no matter how many erroneous statements they repeat, and no matter how many victims like David Hearn are forced to face public criticism and formal criminal charges, due to their false accusations. When I listened to Pirro’s news conference, I couldn’t tell if she was intentionally lying or merely demonstrating professional incompetence and ignorance of the facts. And, I thought, in a more perfect world where life imitates art, some physical proof of veracity or duplicity might have been helpful to her audience. If Pirro’s nose had begun to grow as soon as she uttered her first false statement, it would have been much easier for the public to make a proper judgment, and it might have saved David Hearn a lot of aggravation.
As for Donald Trump himself: his lies have become so numerous that by now, his nose would be so long that the walls inside the White House would be at risk for a collision every time he turned one way or another. Extreme modifications to the building would be necessary in order to accommodate such dramatic changes to the president’s facial structure, and a mere demolition of the East Wing, for example, would not be enough. The whole building would have to be redone to make room for the president’s nose. In Trump’s third term, we might keep an eye out for such additional “improvements” to the White House. They would be funded, of course, with taxpayer dollars.
Greg Tuleja lives in Southampton.