[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 13, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H1988]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IT ALL STARTED WITH A SERIES OF LIES

  (Ms. BALINT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I am a history teacher so I know that we 
have to do everything we can to document what is happening right now 
because we are at a very dangerous moment, and it requires courage from 
every single one of us.
  Here is the truth of it: This national nightmare started with a 
series of lies, the first one being that Barack Obama was not born in 
this country. Then the second one, the ridiculous, easily disproved 
claim was that the 2017 inauguration broke records that no one had ever 
seen before. Then there was the lie about the weather map and the 
Sharpie, and then so many other lies building up to that one big lie 
that you all have heard about the 2020 election. It was an obvious lie, 
and yet he lost over and over and over in court and continued to lie. 
There was no evidence, but it didn't matter.
  Why didn't it matter? It didn't matter because it wasn't about the 
evidence. It was actually a test.
  It was a test to signal your willingness to be loyal. If you promise 
to spread our lies, you can be on the team. It was a qualification for 
being able to work on that team. Slowly, like the rot in the foundation 
of an old farmhouse, it continues to let the decay set in.

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