Did Trump Say It?

People at the meeting have conflicting recollections. So far, Graham and Durbin say he said it. Cotton and Purdue say he didn’t say it. Nielsen said he didn’t use “that exact phrase”. Three other attendees have said nothing.

Is it possible to hear something vulgar that someone else didn’t say? Yes, it is, definitely. I assert this from personal experience.

I once had a one-on-one meeting with a dean who was against me because I disagreed with his program. People in business specialties like finance, marketing, and accounting were in demand. Their salaries had risen relative to economists. The dean, an economist, wanted to hire economists in these specialties. I thought then and still think that economists didn’t know these fields and would propound useless theories. I didn’t think you could build a business school with economists.

Some time after this meeting, a few months, at some occasion in which I again talked with this fellow, he angrily recollected that I had sworn at him using a 4-letter word that begins with the letter “f”. This definitely did not happen. He told me that this happened when I pointed my finger at him. I had used my forefinger or index finger in natural body language to make a point. He was so mad at any sign of independence that he translated this into a memory of a vulgar epithet hurled at him. That thought never even crossed my mind.

When it comes to eyewitness or ear-witness recollections of meetings, in which issues are at stake and emotional reactions run high, it is quite possible that people will remember things being said that were never said.

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