I briefly quarreled with my father the other day regarding the freedom-seeking migrant caravan on the southern border. He said I misrepresented a Trump quote.

The debate was prompted after I read a headline that said something along the lines of “Trump Threatens to Shoot Migrants who Throw Rocks.” My father exclaimed that I was just reading into “liberal propaganda.”

A quick Google search revealed that Trump did, in fact say, “They want to throw rocks at our military, our military fights back. I told them to consider it a rifle. When they throw rocks like what they did to the Mexican military and police, I say consider it a rifle.”

The next day, my father emphasized, the president leapt backwards by saying “I didn’t say shoot, I didn’t say shoot.” In typical Trump decorum, I might add, but I digress.

I don’t think it’s a “misrepresentation” of Trump to say that he made threats to shoot the migrant asylum-seekers.

And I suppose all this goes to show that the power of lies really can’t be underestimated. Trump and the slimy company he keeps lie all the time, that’s not news to anyone. And I’m sure many of you hear soapboxes, or preach your own to others, about how our president is a “damn dirty liar” and the like. I can say that I’m guilty on both counts. But it wasn’t until my father, a registered Democrat and avid CNN watcher, started buying into fake news that I realized how far we’ve slipped.

I believe Selvin Maldonado, a 25-year-old father from Copan, Honduras, when he says that “I don’t want to attack police because my concern is my son.” I believe 21-year-old Salvadoran woman Stephany Lopez who says “we are not killers…we just want to work for a few years, and after that [Trump] can deport us if he wants.” But Trump’s War on Truth has shaped public opinion to a point that it’s hard to tell who’s looking out for you anymore.

So, I implore you right now. As a journalist, as an American citizen, as a proponent of democracy everywhere, I beg that you believe in facts. The press is not the enemy of the people. We’re looking out to help you. And we’re going to keep reporting the news.