Vox: “Writing honestly about the RNC requires centering the dishonesty. But adequately describing the sheer breadth and brazenness of the lying that was on display these past four days would take volumes. And after a certain point, the whole thing reaches diminishing returns: Some depressing political science research suggests that pointing out when Trump is lying doesn’t actually change the way voters feel about him.”

“And that’s the dark brilliance of the RNC, and maybe the entire Trump presidency. If you just lie and break legal rules frequently enough and brazenly enough, the sheer volume of misconduct will overwhelm the systems that are designed to check them. You may have noticed that the White House was a main character at this week’s RNC. It was the backdrop to President Trump’s address and the site where he filmed a naturalization ceremony for five immigrants without all of the new Americans’ consent. No modern president has used the White House like this during a convention before, for the simple reason that it is illegal. The Hatch Act of 1939 puts strict limits on federal employees’ ability to participate in electioneering, including a ban on using their ‘official authority or influence for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election.’ While the president and the vice president are exempt from the Hatch Act, the huge numbers of White House staff necessary to plan and execute a mass political rally at the White House are not.”