His recent false claims that Joe Biden lives in an extravagant mansion are just the latest in a long line of sad attempts to boost his dad's campaign.
Eric Trump tweeted a photo Saturday of a spacious mansion he claimed was Democratic nominee Joe Biden's house — but it turns out Biden hasn't owned the property in 24 years.
The aerial photograph depicts a 10,000-square-foot mansion in Wilmington, Delaware.
"The salary of a U.S. Senator is $174,000 per year. This is Joe Biden's house.... seems legit," the younger Trump tweeted.
But Biden, who had recently been widowed, purchased the home in 1974 for $184,000 as a fixer-upper, broken down and in need of repairs.
Moreover, he hasn't lived in it since 1996 — none of which was acknowledged by Eric Trump.
This isn't the first time in recent months Donald Trump's second son has made a public gaffe of unbelievable proportions.
In late September, he blasted the New York Times report on his father's taxes, telling Jonathan Karl of ABC's "The Week" that his father pays "a fortune" in taxes.
Already spinning tall tales about Biden's residence, he belligerently told Karl in the same interview to "go Google Biden's house right now" and "tell me if you think that a person who's been in government for 47 years can afford that mansion on the water in Wilmington, Delaware."
He also attacked the Democratic nominee's son Hunter Biden for being the "one job" Biden has ever created.
"(Biden) has never had a real job that hasn't been taxpayer-funded ever," Eric Trump said. "Joe Biden has created one job. Do you know what that was? Hunter Biden. Hunter Biden made an absolute fortune."
On Saturday, Eric Trump doubled down on slurs leveled at Hunter Biden, tweeting that reports of the Biden "corruption allegations" are "the biggest story in the world," and complained that ABC and CNN completely ignored it. He hashtagged "#JournalismIsDead."
Then he retweeted his dad on Sunday night, maligning the Bidens for supposed corruption. Both the elder and younger Trump complained that Twitter was limiting their reach in an effort to suppress the truth.
"I guess they don't want the truth about the Biden crime family out there and they will cover for them at all costs," the tweet read in part.
But Eric Trump's bizarre theories are not confined to the topic of Biden.
And, for someone who previously pledged to focus on running the Trump business and distance himself from his father's politics — comparing this obligation to "separation of church and state" — he's sure had a lot to say about the Trump administration.
In early October, he raised some eyebrows when he claimed on a North Dakota talk show that his father "saved Christianity."
"He's literally saved Christianity," Eric Trump said. "I mean, there’s a full-out war on faith in this country by the other side."
He went on to bizarrely assert that the Democratic Party "has become the party of the atheists" who "want to attack Christianity."
But the Pew Research Center reports 63% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Americans are Christians.
But Eric Trump didn't let the facts stop him.
"(The Democrats) want to close churches, (but) they're totally fine keeping liquor stores open," he said, complaining about coronavirus stay-in-place orders, some of which classified liquor stores as "essential" businesses.
Still more bafflingly, in late September Eric Trump appeared on "Fox and Friends" to promote his father as a champion of LGBTQ rights. He then casually announced he was "part of" the LGBTQ community.
Later, he backtracked, saying in a statement to the New York Post that he only intended to say that he has many close friends who are part of the "LGBT" community.
"The left has taken that vote for granted for a long time and support for the gay community for my father is incredible," he said. "As to me personally, as I think you know, I am a happily married man to my wife, Lara."
He also said that he did not identify as bisexual.
Eric Trump has also made misleading statements in the past seven months about two of the most topical political issues of the day: the right to protest and the coronavirus pandemic.
In September, he appeared to rail against Google for supposedly stifling images of unruly protesters.
He tweeted that when he searched the word "mob," other search engines brought up images of "mobs" of angry protesters.
Google, however, showed him photos of an anime character.
"Google is once again trying to manipulate Americans," he wrote, peddling yet another conspiracy theory. He ended with the hashtag "#NothingToSeeHere."
Twitter users were quick to point out that the character who popped up on Google was a frequent search term for the word "mob" — the lead character in an anime series called "Mob Psycho 100."
And back in May, Eric Trump came under fire for implying the coronavirus pandemic was a hoax perpetrated by Democrats.
The coronavirus will "magically, all of a sudden go away and disappear and everyone will be able to reopen" after Election Day, he said in a Fox News interview.
The virus, he suggested, was a plot by Democrats to cancel Donald Trump's campaign rallies.
The pandemic had killed more than 88,000 people at the time of Eric Trump's remarks. It has not killed nearly 220,000.
Experts have long suggested there will be a surge in the fall and winter, something that is now playing out worldwide, particularly in the United States.
Still, it seems unlikely that Eric Trump is going to stop playing fast and loose with the truth anytime soon.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
