this article is part of the opinion today newsletter. you can sign up here to receive more briefings and a guide to the section daily in your inbox. <u+201c>this is a classic example of where trump begins to demonstrate something he talks about all the time today, which is he<u+2019>s a counterpuncher. so somebody comes after him and says that he<u+2019>s done something nefarious and horrible, and he just goes back at them with all guns blazing <u+2014> you know, boom, boom, boom. and admits nothing, never admit anything, never say you made a mistake, just keep coming. and if you lose, declare victory. and that<u+2019>s exactly what happened there. he lost as clearly as you could lose but he loudly proclaimed his victory.<u+201d> this quotation comes from tony schwartz, the ghostwriter of donald trump<u+2019>s book, <u+201c>the art of the deal.<u+201d> schwartz is talking about trump<u+2019>s response to a 1970s lawsuit against his company for refusing to rent apartments to african-americans. but of course the description also applies to so much else <u+2014> including trump<u+2019>s support for the iraq war , his <u+201c> birther <u+201d> conspiracy theory, his refusal to release tax returns and, most recently, his history of sexual assault. over the past week, multiple women have come forward with stories of trump<u+2019>s kissing, touching and grabbing them against their will. trump has responded by calling them liars and insulting them (even though he had previously bragged about precisely the behavior the women describe). it<u+2019>s the classic trump strategy. <u+201c>his lawyer said to me, <u+2018>donald is a believer that if you repeat something enough, people will start to believe it,<u+2019><u+201d> the journalist marie brenner says in the same episode of frontline that includes the schwartz interview i quote above. marc fisher, another writer, similarly described a lesson that trump had learned from a mentor: <u+201c>you need to fight back harder than they ever hit you.<u+201d> keep in mind that all of the frontline interviews took place before trump<u+2019>s sexual accusers came forward <u+2014> and yet the descriptions capture trump<u+2019>s response to a t. when trump is feeling cornered, in business or politics, he has a go-to strategy: he lies, and he just keeps lying. you can join me on twitter (@dleonhardt) and facebook . i am also writing a daily email newsletter until the election and invite you to subscribe . follow the new york times opinion section on facebook and twitter (@nytopinion), and sign up for the opinion today newsletter .
donald trump<u+2019>s playbook for smearing
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