Trudy Rubin

Could Tuesday’s elections and Wednesday’s U.S. Supreme Court hearing on the legality of Donald Trump’s tariffs spell the beginning of the end for White House “truthiness”?

Late-night comic Stephen Colbert coined that term in 2005 to mean, in his words, “the belief in what you feel to be true rather than what’s supported by facts.” He was referring at the time to the Bush administration’s truthiness about the Iraq War, but Trump has given the word a whole new life.

Trump’s “alternative facts” — as one of his first-term aides labeled his falsehoods — have evolved into lies so blatant and constant that they have become almost normalized.

During Trump’s first term, when the Washington Post compiled a list of more than 30,000 presidential lies, many Americans were horrified. But a year into his second term, even those who dislike Trump have been worn down by his continued rants, including that he won the 2020 election and that the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters were heroes.

The shock value has worn off from repetition, and the public outrage such lies should still inflame has become muted.Yet, unexpectedly, this widespread mood of resignation to Trump’s fakery may be lifting.

The most exciting aspect of this politically charged week was watching the revival of truth as a weapon against unrestricted White House power.

On Tuesday, we were reminded that Trump’s truthiness is a dangerous aberration. Maybe, just maybe, even a few GOP senators and representatives will recognize that much of the public (and even conservative Supreme........

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