‘All of these liars will be sued’

Donald Trump,

in a speech at a rally Saturday in Gettysburg, Pa.: “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication. The events never happened, never. All of these liars will be sued after the election is over. But a simple phone call placed to the biggest newspapers or televisions networks gets them wall-to-wall coverage with virtually no fact-checking whatsoever. Here is (how) this is relevant to you. If they can fight somebody like me, who has unlimited resources to fight back, just look at what they can do to you.”

Trump,

in an interview with USA TODAY’s Steve Reilly: “I pay my bills on time, Steve. You know I have a great history of paying my bills on time. Don’t forget, I sign thousands of checks a month. We pay tens of millions of dollars out of the company on a monthly basis. I am known for paying on time. And I’m also known for giving bonuses to people if they do a great job. But you’re right, if somebody does a poor job, I’m not the quickest to pay. But if they do a good job, I pay them quickly. ... If somebody does a bad job, then as far as I’m concerned then they’ve violated their trust and their contract.” The Baltimore Sun, editorial: “Rich people threaten lawsuits. It’s what they do. They have teams of high-priced lawyers at their beck and call. It’s like carrying around a loaded weapon and an itchy trigger finger — things are bound to happen. And why not? It often serves their financial interests. When the deep-pocketed make threats of legal action against ordinary folks who don’t have counsel at the ready, it tends to have a chilling effect on them. ... Real presidents don’t threaten to sue their critics. They either rise above such charges or disprove them. The original Gettysburg orator, Abraham Lincoln, was called a gorilla, an imbecile, a laughing stock. ... He didn’t sue, he rose to greatness.”

Timothy O’Brien, Bloom

berg View: “Take heart whenever Trump rattles his legal saber (and he has been threatening lawsuits against business partners, competitors, the government, political opponents and the media for more than 40 years now). Lots of cases (such as) the Trump University litigation and various other fights have already caused Trump to reveal more publicly about his operations than he would otherwise hope.”