Eric Trump tried to use one of his father’s favorite embellishments during a Fox News appearance on Tuesday night, but people online immediately spotted it.
Eric Trump claimed that people hug him and then weep ― “literally, sometimes Sean, with tears in their eyes” ― as they explain how much they miss his father, former President Donald Trump:
If that sounds familiar, it’s because the former president often told variations of the same story, generally involving “tough guys” who had never cried before but were reduced to tears on meeting him.
In 2019, Trump spoke about a man who supposedly wept as he pleaded with the then-president to cut regulations.
“I don’t think he cried in his life and I don’t think he cried when he was a baby,” Trump said. “He was crying. He said, ‘Sir, you give me back my life and my property.’”
In 2018, Trump told a similar story, supposedly about someone else.
“He was a strong, tough guy, and he was crying. He said, ‘Mr. President, thank you for saving America,’” Trump claimed. “I’m telling you, that man, he was tough. I don’t think he cried when he was a baby.”
Trump also spoke of farmers and ranchers weeping behind him as he gave a speech at a 2017 event; however, footage from the scene did not show any obvious tears.
Given that history, people were quick to mock Eric Trump for stealing a line out of his dad’s playbook: